Intangible Connection
by GenoVera
Summary: AU, When the five-year-old Light Yagami gets new neighbors, he never would have thought that this event would eventually lead to the formation of a deep friendship. Or even something more...? LxLight in later chapters, rated T for some cursing and minor sexual content.
1. Prologue

** Intangible Connection**

**A/N: Well, hello and welcome to my first fanfiction! Before you start, let me tell you that English is not my first language, so if there are any mistakes or expressions that seem unnatural please inform me. That aside, this story is completely AU and therefore to a certain extent OOC. There will be OCs as well. I will also use L's alias 'Ryuuzaki', I hope it won't bother you. Well then, let's start with the prologue to 'Intangible Connection'! :D**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing with exception for the storyline and a few OCs.**

* * *

Prologue: The Boy who looks like Halloween

Two hours have passed, since a five-year-old Light Yagami has suited himself on top of the stairs and continued looking trough the window with a curious stubbornness which only intelligent toddlers like him could possess. He was focused on the current on-goings related to the house across the street. Light was currently witnessing the arrival of new neighbors, an incident which of course would prove itself worth being observed by the genius kid. His patience was, considering his young age, remarkable since the only information he could gather was the sight of some worn-out looking furniture being carried inside the house and a short glimpse at the neighbors themselves. There were two of them, Light concluded. One was a relatively young woman with raven-black hair and a petite shape. She didn't look Japanese, though, at least not fully.

The second newcomer was a toddler, apparently the same age as Light, with the same ebony hair and thin figure as the woman. He was also remarkably pale and continued licking on a hand-sized lollipop whose mere sight gave Light eye-diabetes. During the progress of the furnishings the pale boy let neither go of his lollipop nor of the hand of the woman, who was most likely his mother.

Light was unpleased at the very least. The fact that the new neighbor-woman had a son his age was distressful. Light could almost _smell_ the socializing his mother will set up for him and this diabetes-boy. If it were at least an older boy, maybe Light could find some intellectual stimulation in it, but that sugar-addict looked as promising as the idiotic TV-shows for kids in which animated characters would talk to their audience in a retarded way in order to _provide knowledge_.

Light's trail was interrupted when a soft hand laid itself upon his fragile shoulder.

"Light, what are you doing? You should be in your bed by now"

The soft voice of his mother calmed Light's inner turmoil and he turned around to be confronted with the welcome sight of his mother's loving smile. And, even better than that, Sayu was obviously already brought to bed, so she couldn't cling to his mother's arm 24/7.

"Who is that?", Light asked and pointed to the opposite house demanding information.

Sachiko's smile intensified and she patted her son's awfully bright head.

"We're going to welcome them tomorrow. But you should sleep now, Light"

Light winced inwardly. He _knew_ it. More happy Get-That-Light-A-Playmate-Time for Light Yagami.

Resistantly he stood up and let himself be led to his bedroom on the first floor. It was too big, one could assume, but Light liked every inch of it. It even had a balcony, although the door was carefully locked.

Sachiko hugged her son and gently wrapped the blanket around him. She kissed his forehead and bid him a good night.

All upcoming nuisances forgotten Light closed his eyes and drifted almost immediately into sleep.

* * *

Light's daily progress used to be the same more or less, including little exceptions only. So Light couldn't approve of the fact that his usual reading time in the afternoon was replaced by meeting those stupid new neighbors; stupid welcome-flowers and smiley-faces inclusive. How could this be considered amusing?

But, of course, Light left his antisocial comments for himself and followed his beloved family, consisting of himself, Soichiro, Sachiko and Sayu. Right into the imminent doom.

Soichiro was the first to ring the bell and some rustling sounds and soft voices came from inside. Finally, the door opened and the head of the young woman appeared.

Looking closer, Light could definitely say that she had to be at least partly foreign. She possessed beautiful, Japanese facial features but her complexion was a bit too dark and her eyes didn't fit the common Japanese genetic. They were big, round and as dark as a deep abyss. However, they graced the guests with friendly glances.

"Good afternoon", Soichiro announced and bowed slightly.

"Good afternoon", the woman replied in a soft and melodic tone. "How can I help you?"

Only now Light noticed the slight exasperated sound in her voice. She must have been working. And being a single-mother certainly didn't help sparing effort.

Soichiro introduced himself, then his wife, then his son and finally his daughter.

"We only came over to welcome you" Sachiko said and timidly handed over the flowers. The woman's face lit up instantly and now even Light couldn't deny her beauty and youth.

"Thank you very much! They are wonderful! I am Rue Sakura, by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Sakura gestured them to enter her house.

"Feel free to come in! Although I have to apologise, it's currently a bit of a mess since I'm stuck in the middle of preparations…"

Light had long stopped listening to the constant babble. He looked around to catch a look at the Ghost-Boy, who was nowhere insight. Maybe he would just appear out of thin air and start howling and…

"Ah, I almost forgot, I wanted you to meet my son", Sakura said and, with a side glance at Light, she continued: "He should be your age now, Light"

Light merely shrugged.

"You know, my son has a little trouble finding friends since he is a bit eccentric, so…"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure Light is an excellent playmate for your son", Sachiko ensured and Light's insides turned. Now he had to play all friendly to some retarded social crippled freak… But alright, Light was sure he would manage to find a polite way to get rid of him anyhow.

"Ryuuzaki! Could you come downstairs?"

The whole Yagami family listened to the sound of a door opening and the patting of feet on the ground. Sayu made a little sleeping noise to disrupt the silence.

Finally, a small frame came doddered down the stairs. Light could finally elaborate his first impressions with a more thoroughly observation.

The boy was pretty thin and fragile-looking like his mother, but the palish-white colour of his skin made the look seem unhealthy and somewhat unnatural. His face was marked by those large, deep eyes, but in contrast to his mother's eyes, they were sharp, too sharp for a boy his age, and it seemed like they would explore every pore of your soul merely by looking at you. Light shifted uncomfortably. _Nothing_ was supposed to unsettle Light Yagami, especially not some ghost freak, who, on closer sight, didn't even wear _socks_.

So Light simply continued to stare, even as the eyes met his and created a most uncomfortable tension.

"Ryuuzaki, this is Light Yagami and his family, Light, this is Ryuuzaki", Sakura announced unnecessarily and Ryuuzaki brought his thumb to his lips.

_He still chews on his thumb?_, Light thought gleefully and surprised at once.

Some seconds passed and Light grew fed up with those black orbs staring at him, so he decided to take him off guard. Everybody knew him for his directness, anyway.

"You look like Halloween", Light said innocently and gazes met him, a few not approving, a few indicating _typical for kids his age_.

But Light didn't pay attention to them, since the Halloween-boy in question actually started to _smile_. Maybe he was even dumber than Light originally thought.

"Please, could you further explain your recent statement?"

The low, apathetic voice surprised Light not as much as the thing being _said_. Was this person mocking him? Did he really not know that _Light _was mocking him? And what kind of kid would talk like that? Did he think of himself as some kind of super-genius or what?

"I said, you look like the personification of Halloween. You know, the thing taking place in October with ghosts and demons and stuff?"

Light could have _sworn_ that this smile suddenly intensified. It was hard to tell with that thumb blocking your sight.

"I disagree", he said, still in that same, emotionless voice.

"Huh?", Light made a surprised sound. That was definitely _not _what he had expected. This little bastard had turned the tables and took _him_ off-guard. That was something that, regardless his age, only a few people were able to do.

"I disagree.", the demon-owl repeated. "People do associate Halloween with fear and gruesome creatures not being found upon the earth's surface. However, I have statistically proven that people, while looking at me, get the distinct impression of adorableness."

Light actually snorted at this point.

"So you want to tell me that you have created _statistics_ to prove that you're adorable, which I'm vehemently rejecting, by the way? That's quite the pathetic thing to do, even for a little pale owl-face as you are"

"Light!", Sachiko exclaimed appalled. She had never heard her son talking like this.

"Oh, no, Yagami-san, it's alright. Please do not blame your son. My open demeanor often triggers such reactions, although I have to admit Light-kun's level of snappy counter arguments is quite remarkable for his age. Do you mind accompanying me to my room, Light-kun?"

Light wanted to refuse, _desperately_, but upon making one side glance at his mother he knew he had to compensate for his behavior. Damn him and his snow-white west!

He graced the little owl-face a smile that could easily match the colour of his metaphorical conscience.

"Sure, let's go! I apologise if I insulted you earlier"

Ry-owl-zaki gave him a look that indicated that he perfectly looked through Light's little act, but he played along nevertheless.

Soichiro and Sachiko observated their son suspiciously while he trailed along after the pale boy.

* * *

"Please, follow me into the kitchen!", Sakura smiled and pointed at the room in question.

Sachiko and Soichiro could now fully admire the combination of an on-going move, the busy life of a single-mother and the presence of an overly bored little social outcast. 'A mess' wasn't quite the term that could meet this state, it was rather… well, Light would bluntly call it an apocalyptic nuclear after-war state. Or a dump, to be less dramatic. But that somehow took the edge. Sakura's guests took their seats and watched the busy woman absently stroking her hair out of her face.

"Do you want some tea? Coffee? Water?", Sakura offered and opened the fridge which, unsurprisingly, revealed a little collection of various sweets.

"Tea, please"

"For me as well"

One boiling-water-session later the three adults sat around the old table and began leading a conversation. Sakura was indeed the open and lovely person she appeared to be and talking to her prove itself as pretty comfortable.

* * *

"I wonder what the boys are doing", Sachiko mentioned as they slowly ran out of things to discuss.

"Ah, I think they're getting along well. They've been strangely quiet, normally Ryuu would make quite the fuss in his room"

Sachiko and Soichiro exchanged glances.

"Erm, not to sound rude, but… are you sure it is alright leaving them by themselves? Ryuuzaki seemed to be… slightly exasperating for Light"

"Oh, I do apologise. He's been like that since he could think. Which was remarkably early. He is very intelligent, like your son. But he has a light form of autism"

"Autism?", Soichiro repeated. He had dealt with that kind of disorder before.

"Yes, which is probably both the source of his intelligence and his lacking social skills. He usually doesn't get around well with children who are not as clever as him. But your son is also very gifted, I could immediately sense that."

Sachiko had no time to be flattered, what she usually was when ever someone praised her beloved child, but instead she stood up from her seat and announced:

"I'd rather have a look at them"

Sakura didn't seem to be in the least offended by the reaction her speech provoked, but she took it with some kind of tired friendliness. She was used to people forbidding her son to play with their children, only because they saw him as some potential psycho-killer. Better crushing her hopes now than later.

The three members of the Yagami-family hurried up the stairs and Sakura opened the door to Ryuuzaki's room. Nobody was prepared for the scene presenting itself to the flabbergasted audience.

* * *

The first thing Light thought was… well, he didn't really think something that could be recognised as human speech since his brain was confronted with the messiest room he had ever seen. And if something was able to stop the gears inside of Light's brain, it had to be quite the crazy stuff. Something that Ryuuzaki's room was. Definitely some _crazy stuff_.

The room itself was plain white, like the asylum Light had Owli be transferred to if he were in charge, but it was literally _scattered_ with random furniture covered in huge amounts of books, toys and sweet wrappers. Light couldn't navigate yet, whereas Ryuuzaki gracefully hopped over the floor-covering trash and curled up on top of some undefined object which had to resemble something bed-like. The way Ryuuzaki reigned over his land of trash like a freaky owl-monkey-hybrid made Light almost laugh. _Almost._ The mere sight gave Light's OCD-in-progress chills.

"Alright, now that we're outside your family's eavesdropping-radius, you can insult me as you like"

Light snorted. Something he had the feeling would be happening quite often around this little brat.

"Well, if you wanted intelligent _stimuli_, you could've just asked, you know?"

Ryuuazki made his little smiling thing with the thumb and responded:

"Yeah, but where is the fun in that? Light-kun surely would provide more amusement if he'd be agitated, am I right?"

He muttered it in a way that said _'Of course I'm right, I'm Rue freakin'-monkey Ryuuzaki, dude'_

"I'm sure it would be funnier than sucking your thumb like the little child you are. Of course people won't interact in an intelligent way around you if you behave like a five-year-old!"

"I think this is not exactly convincing. You are five years old, aren't you?"

"But I'm not _behaving _like I am."

"Neither am I. I'm just behaving like an extremely spoiled adult."

"Damn right"

"You're cursing"

"You're annoying"

"Where did that come from, Light-kun?"

Light smirked. The freckles on his cheeks seemed to dance while he did so. Ryuuzaki was fascinated. He'd never seen a Japanese boy with auburn hair, eyes and _freckles_.

"Oh, my bad. I thought we were just stating the obvious here", the subject of Ryuuzaki's interest replied.

"Touché, Light-kun.", Ryuuzaki said and wriggled his toes in an excited manner. It was one of the oddest things Light has ever seen.

Silence followed and Light let his sight wander a bit. He discovered books called '_Japanese manners and traditions' _and _' Japanese History Book 9'_. These were books he'd be interested in as well. He hesitantly dared to make a few steps forwards and took in the sight. Aside from various books, there were other things like Origami-figures, scetches and Lego-buildings.

He picked up a little Origami-crane and held it delicately between his fingers. How could a little ugly boy produce something like this?

"That's beautiful. Did you make it?", he asked. Ryuuzaki merely nodded and stood up to take a look over Light's shoulders. It was a rather unnecessary and strange move, Light thought.

"I can teach you", Ryuuzaki proposed.

Light considered this idea for a moment. But then, what could he lose? It was not like he'd suddenly start to form a friendship with Owl-o, was it?

"Alright", Light said and Ryuuzaki seemed to beam. To beam? What strange phrase for the sunken, little, dead-like creature in front of him.

But Light was then distracted by said creature who gently held his sleeve and led him to the ground (something Light didn't really wanted to make contact with, thank you), where he, _surprise, surprise_, didn't curl up to a ball like a pill bug but instead sat down cross legged, with some sheets of colourful paper in front of him.

"The basics are quite easy. I assume Light-kun won't have any problems with it…"

"Can't we skip the child's play and instantly get to the difficult stuff? Rest assured I can do better than _that_"

"…if he stopped being such a pimp"

Light didn't know the meaning of the word 'pimp', but it was certainly insulting, so he sulked a bit.

"Great. And now, follow my instructions.", Ryuuzaki continued unfazed.

And so Light did.

The first cranes were a bit wrinkled but he got better and better as time went on. Neither of the little geniuses talked, they were merely trying to create bigger and more complex figures (in which, Light admitted grumpily, Ryuuzaki was simply better).

So it came that, when the door opened and the Yagami-family entered, they found two little boys sitting on the ground completely lost in their work, with little beautiful Origami-figures all around them.

It was quite the reassuring sight after the revelation about Ryuuzaki's autism, Soichiro thought.

Light and Ryuuzaki lifted their head simultaneously and the persons in the door were confronted with deep, pitch-black eyes and shining brown ones. Both eyes could see the positively surprised expressions in the intruder's eyes. Ryuuzaki sighed inwardly. Has humanity really lost any faith in creepy, antisocial autistics? It's not like he was about to _eat_ Light-kun or something. He would be taken aback by the taste of his all too minty shampoo anyway.

"Look, mommy, we were making cranes!", Light announced childishly and shoved his mother one of his creation in the face. Either Light behaved like the child he was around his parents intentionally or he _really_ was extremely proud of his little folded piece of paper.

"That's _magnificent_, Light!", Sachiko praised her son and patted his flawless hair.

Soichiro smiled proudly and Sayu tried to grab the crane with her tiny hands.

Ryuuzaki observed this spectacle with an unreadable expression one could consider as completely expressionless.

His head snapped as a hand laid itself upon his shoulder. He looked up and saw the smiling face of his mother.

"Jealous?", she asked mockingly. Ryuuzaki loved her direct nature which didn't have its origin in impudence but respect for her son's mental capability. Only his mother knew how to deal with him. Only her.

"What would I be jelous of? His hair? No thanks, I'll pass"

Sakura laughed and pecked the cheek of the toddler. Light witnessed the slight sparkle in Ryuuzaki's eyes arising and decided that he liked it when that odd boy looked… well, more _alive_. And he was intelligent. He would give it a try, at least. Maybe he could develop some deeper friendship, not the fake ones he led with a few children from their neighborhood.

Later on everyone bid farewell and left the duo by themselves.

* * *

In the evening all the members of Light's family sat around the table and discussed the day's events. It seemed like Sachiko definitely approved of the new neighbors, she was endeared by how Light and Ryuuzaki 'played so well together', at which point Light had to stifle a cough, since he wouldn't call his free time activities 'playing' but rather 'researching'.

Soichiro sad nothing, but that wasn't a surprise since he loved listening to discussions his amazingly bright son and his beloved wife would lead. He'd only make a comment now and then, nothing significant.

And Sayu, well, one could count himself lucky when she produced something that was more than a mindless babble.

* * *

One hour after the dinner at the Yagami household had taken place, Ryuuzaki and Sakura gathered around their old table and began eating the meal. Ryuuzaki hardly ate 'normal' food, but when he did, it was his mother's cooking. Nobody else understood how to create the perfect balance between healthy and sugary meals. And since his mother was a confectioner her pastries were the best Ryuuzaki had ever eaten in his young life.

"So, what about that Yagami-boy? Do you like him?", Sakura asked. Ryuuzaki knew quite well that most parents had an ulterior motive when asking something like that, but his mother would only satisfy her curiosity. Another aspect he liked about her.

"He is intelligent, I assume. And a quick learner"

"That doesn't answer the question and you know that, you little sneaky thing"

L smiled slightly and then nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I think, I like him. He is interesting"

"I'm glad to hear that. He seemed to like you as well"

"What indicators lead you to this conclusion?", Ryuuzaki asked with round eyes.

"Well, he managed to stay with you in one room for three hours. Is that nothing?"

Ryuuzaki answered by throwing a vegetable at her.

* * *

**A/N: Aaaand, that was the introduction to this little story! There will be Yaoi later on, I promise, but I always take my time to let the story unfold. And yes, I know that there are in fact many different types of autism, but I won't give any specific details here, since I'm not a expert psychology and I don't want to insult any people out there who might be reading this with my lack of knowledge. Though this whole thing isn't a crucial plot device, it just serves as a possible explanation for L's little quirks. Don't take this too seriously, please.**

**See you in the next chapter, hopefully! :D**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, there! **

**I decided to upload this a little sooner, since this chapter was already written and so I thought "Why not?" But this is only an exception, since the other chapters aren't written yet.**

**Thanks to anyone who read the prologue and reviewed, this really made me happy :D**

**Enjoy the first chapter of 'Intangible Connection' and tell me what you think!**

**-GenoVera**

**Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Death Note, otherwise it would probably all cute and fluffy :3**

* * *

Chapter 1: Friends?

"Ryuuzaki! Hey, Ryuuzaki! Are you listening?"

"No, Light-kun, I'm obviously reading"

Ryuuzaki laid lazily on Light's bed, a book pinned between his little fingers. The agitated soon-to-be six-year old had suited himself on the chair and stared holes in Ryuuzaki's hair-covered forehad.

"Then stop reading and pay attention!"

Ryuuzaki sighed and shut the book close he had taken from Light's bookshelf. Almost four month have passed since Light and he became something like friends, and they would often meet and read books and talk about 'adult stuff' like Light's mother called it. However, due to the difficult concept of the boy's minds, they wouldn't deepen their friendship, simply encouraging each other's intellect.

"I said I want to celebrate my birthday one day after the 28th of february. What do you say?"

"I say that's a good idea for a social butterfly like you"

"Aww, don't play dumb! I'm asking you whether or not you want to come!"

"It would be worth a try"

"Is that a yes?"

"Oh, you can tell"

The boys grinned at each other, Light showing his tiny white teeth and Ryuuzaki waving his toes. Light had actually never seen Ryuuzaki's teeth. At least not clearly. He wondered how they looked like, considering the mountains of sweets he'd consume everyday. It was a miracle that the boy wasn't obese by now.

"Ryuuzaki, can you grin?"

"You mean, anatomically? Yes, I think I am able to do that"

"Gaah, sometimes I wonder why I even let you in my room!"

"I actually make a nice decoration, Light-kun."

Light bursted out into laughter and once again Ryuuzaki found it amazing how lively the boy looked. His freckles were pronounced as ever and his mouth was white open to show his teeth. Ryuuzaki tried to imitate this and made an attempt to move his facial muscles. He failed, however, as he didn't know _how_ to do it. Nobody could explain him technically how to _grin_ properly and as such he thought himself unable to do it. In compensation he showed his thin smile and nibbled on his thumb. There, much better. And the topic wouldn't arise again.

* * *

On the 28th of february, Light's birthday, Ryuuzaki looked out of the window and saw many cars parking in front of the house. It had to be Light's relatives, Ryuuzaki concluded. At least Light was the kind of person who would be loved by everyone, especially socially starved aunts with a tendency to cuddle cute toddlers like Light to suffocation. Ryuuzaki was thankful that he lived in now in Japan, remote from all his relatives in England who used to treat him like some kind of rabid animal.

Speaking of rabid animal, Ryuuzaki saw an old couple invading Light's lawn who seemed to possess an extraordinary little and snappy dog. Light sure had interesting relatives. Ryuuzaki decided to stay on his spot.

One hour later, Sakura entered the room and was greeted by the backside of her slouched son who stared intensively out of the window. She sighed and put a hand on his back. Ryuuzaki only wore clothes that were at least one number too wide, since he'd say that 'tight closes would restrict his mental capability'. He'd use the same excuse for all his odd mannerisms which Sakura found so endearing but which would appall all the other boys his age. Well, _almost_ all the other boys. The only one who'd ever established a stable relationship with Ryuu was the guy he currently observed like a stalker. He surely couldn't even see anything since everything took place inside of the Yagami-Household.

Ryuuzaki didn't flinch a muscle, but instead continued doing whatever he did. Sakura gave up and pressed a lollipop in her son's hand. Grateful, Ryuuzaki began devouring it in an instant. His blood sugar must have been low.

Sakura casted a glance at her love and left.

* * *

Light absolutely _loathed_ visits from his relatives. They wouldn't even listen to what he had to say!

All they were doing was admiring his 'cuteness' and his 'cleverness'. They couldn't even grasp in the slightest the actual extent of his 'cleverness'!

Not to mention all the unwanted cuddles and kisses from people he wouldn't see except for rare occasions. But Light played along, as he ever did. He made his mother and father extremely proud and be the model child everybody wanted him to be. Oh, how he actually wished he could behave as snappily as he used to do when being around Ryuuzaki! He was the only one knowing the 'real' Light, the aspect of his personality he so carefully hid.

And then there were the things he was given for his birthday! He didn't like them at all, silly, impersonal typical presents they were. He wanted so desperately something intelligent, something he could educate himself with until he finally would be sent to school. Speaking of which, he couldn't wait for the beginning of the semester, starting in only a few _months_. He had high expectations of the school, despite his parent's warnings to 'take it easy' and 'enjoy his childhood'. His stupid childhood got him nowhere, except directly in the arms of his cuddle-deprived relatives! And, furthermore, he had to repeat this farce the following day, only with little children who were even dumber than the adults he had to deal with today.

At least some of _them_ didn't talk complete rubbish to him, whereas such conversations with toddlers were practically _given_.

Light sighed once again and waited patiently for the day to pass. He didn't really receive any joy from his own celebrations.

All the inner turmoil took place unnoticed from Light's mother, who rubbed Light's smooth hair as he lay in his bed exhausted in the end of the day. She was very proud, since he has behaved like the angel he was. He even had kept up his composure as Sayu's thrown up all over his shoes, regardless of his preference for tidiness.

Light smiled at her sleepily and waited, until she has left the room, until he got up and spent one more hour reading, completely ignoring his parent's rules. After all they've gotten him through, he rightfully _deserved _this little distraction, didn't he? And has his amber eyes darted left and right, he was oblivious to the fact that certain cowl-like eyes imitated this movement only a few steps remote.

Ryuuzaki was indeed keeping his eyes busy, but for a different reason. He was crawling through his room, while his tiny hands rummaged in his property, currently being loaded to immense mountains on the floor. He was searching, silently scolding himself for not considering this requirement earlier. Said situation repeated itself over and over in his head:

"So, tomorrow's Light's birthday party, then?", Sakura asked, her son momentarily being snuggled close to her in her over-sized bed.

_Said little boy of fluff nodded and black streaks of hair tickled his mother's chin._

_"__Have you everything prepared? You're invited, aren't you?"_

_Ryuuzaki repeated his former gesture._

_"__I have myself and I am prepared. Therefore you could say that, yes, I have everything prepared"_

_Sakura, who had stroked the mess of hair mere seconds ago, froze and furrowed her brows as a suspicion began to form in her head._

_"__You do have a present, don't you?"_

_Ryuuzaki's eyes widened._

_"__Light-kun didn't request such a thing. Is it required?"_

_"__I'm afraid yes. It's a sign of affection"_

_Ryuuzaki relaxed and positioned himself back in Sakura's arms._

_"__If it's only an affirmation of our friendship, it is alright. We aren't real friends, so we have nothing to affirm to."_

_Sakura frowned._

_"__Light and you aren't friends? But you do get along that _well_. And you meet almost twice a week"_

_"__Yes, but we only use each other's mind to distract ourselves from overflowing boredom. We simply exchange wisdom and experiences, nothing too personal."_

_Sakura smiled._

_"__Sounds like a friendship to me"_

_"__It's professional"_

_"__It is far from 'professional', honey. You two gather voluntarily, pass some time, talk, do other activities… You once told me that you can speak your mind freely and he doesn't mind at all, whereas other children take exception to your bluntness. Light on the other hand can shake his artificial demeanor off and be himself, you once said."_

_"__That's right", Ryuuzaki confirmed, now deeply in thought_

_"__And this form of freedom is based on trust, don't you think? Now stand up and get that boy a present"_

_"__I would have to give him one of my things…"_

_"__And he'd appreciate it, I'm sure. Do it and I'll bake you a cake"_

_Sakura guessed from the look she was given what Ryuuzaki'd come up with next, so she preempted her son and finished:_

_"__With strawberries"_

_Ryuuzaki seemed content and left the bedroom, to go on the heroic quest to find an acceptable present for the picky boy._

So it came that the autistic, genius little oddball was paving a way through his room like a mole through the earth, picking up something here and there, only to toss it away right after that, either because it wasn't responding to Light's taste or it was too good so Ryuuzaki wanted to keep it. It proved itself rather disadvantageous that their tastes were so alike.

Finally, after one hour straight, Ryuuzaki hold something quite fitting in his hands.

"That should be sufficient", he mumbled to himself. Now he was really prepared for the upcoming day.

"Morning, Honey!", Ryuuzaki was greeted as he entered the kitchen after the few hours of sleep he got. Luckily sleep-deprive didn't seem to affect him really, but he didn't want to make a habit out of it.

"Mornin'", he murmured and sat down in front of the bowl with british chocolate-cereals, his favourites. He soon had to find a japanese alternative, he realised.

With his feet rested safely on the chair and one spoon in the hand he began to happily devour his meal. Sakura couldn't help but comparing his way of eating to that of a energetic hamster. The resemblance was striking, especially the cuteness-factor.

"So, did you find a present?", she asked after Ryuuzaki was finished (which didn't took very long) and was confirmed by a nod.

"Here it is", Ryuuzaki said and held the soon-to-be present up. Sakura stared.

"But that's… _his_, isn't it?"

"Yes, I didn't realise I hadn't thrown it away", Ryuuzaki responded, completely missing the sudden uneasiness in his mother's voice.

"Are you sure, that's… a good idea?", Sakura inquired.

Finally, Ryuuzaki looked in her eyes and saw the disapproval resting there. He felt uncomfortable by making his mother looking like this and not knowing the reason.

"Is it bad? I assumed it wouldn't mean anything to you, as you once said…"

Sakura knew that her son couldn't possibly know what made her uneasy, since he was unable to grasp the tension between her and her former husband after she had told him that she had almost forgotten him, so she felt a bang of guilty. And the tight knot in her stomach forming whenever they spoke about Alan.

"It's alright. I didn't expect you to having kept it, that's all"

Ryuuzaki nodded, understanding the uncomfortable feeling when something unpredictable happened, but also being confirmed in his suspicion that his father still caused turmoil to her mother.

"Well, I'm giving it to Light-kun anyway, so it will be done with eventually"

Sakura relaxed and smiled. She really should try to be calmer when discussing her ex-husband, when even Ryuuzaki isn't disturbed, despite all that happened…

Time ran and soon it was noon, the ominous present laying wrapped in coloured paper upon the kitchen table.

"Ryuu! Are you ready?", Sakura screamed into the staircase.

"Yes", Ryuuzaki said, tapping down the stairs. He wore a faltered blue T-Shirt and big brown khakis, looking, by Ryuuzaki's standards, ready to go out. Sakura was relatively satisfied, except…

"Oh no, you won't go there with your hair being like this!"

Ryuuzaki rolled his eyes upwards, as if he tried to take a look at his head (and failing)

"I think it looks like it ever does", he mused, one thumb in his mouth.

"And that's why we have to alter it. You look like you just crawled under your bed, sleepyhead"

"Well, I didn't exactly crawled _under_ the bed, but…"

"No excuse! You're coming with me and we make you presentable."

She took her son's hand and led him to the bathroom, Ryuuzaki bracing himself for the upcoming doom.

* * *

Light greeted the first guest, Yamamoto, the boy he knew best of all those who were about to come. And the only one he would, maybe, under special circumstances, consider as something like a friend. Next were Yuri, a little clingy girl with an annoying smile, Shioko, another girl with brown hair and brown eyes and Shiro, a massive boy with glasses who liked to think with his fists rather with his brain. Unfortunately, all those 'friends' of Light lived nearby and were the only ones who could be invited. Light's parents even thought he actually _liked_ some of those idiots.

Well, truth was that Light only liked non-idiots, such as…

The door bell rang and Light rushed to open it. As he took in the sight of a certain odd boy, he couldn't help himself but burst out into loud laughter.

"It's nice to know that Light-kun thinks of me as such amusing", Ryuuzaki remarked with his brows furrowed.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Ryuuzaki, but… your _hair_!"

Light pointed demonstratively to the top of his head, where… the _hair _normally was. But in Ryuuzaki's case it was replaced by one strangely combed, gelled and styled thing that could have passed as hair. If you first squinted your eyes and hit your head against a wall.

Ryuuzaki meanwhile sulkily ruffled his hair with one free hand, which brought it back to its usual state (not quite ideal either but at least hair-resembling).

It was then that he noticed the little package in Ryuuzaki's right hand.

Curious, he reached out and tried to take it, but Ryuuzaki jerked his hand away like the little slob he was.

"Cake first", he announced and made clear just for what _purpose_ he attended Light's party. It was surprisingly unsurprising.

"Who's this?", Yuri asked with a high-pitched voice, interestedly leaning forward.

"I'm Ryuuzaki", the newcomer introduced himself.

"Ryuuzaki?", Yamamoto interfered "I've never seen you here before."

"He lives in the house on the opposite side", Light explained.

"That old house? Gross", Shiro remarked.

"He looks funny", Shioko threw randomly in.

"I'm not looking 'funny', unknown friend of Light's. Quite the contrary, I have valid proof that people…"

"Oh, here we go again", Light sighed, interrupting Ryuuzaki in his 'I'm-adorable'-stuff.

"Have you gathered any counter-evidence, Light-kun?"

"Common sense?", he proposed.

"I do not think this is counting, though, since the majority of humanity does not possess such"

"And you _talk_ funny, too!", Shioko exclaimed, looking quite intrigued.

"It's called formal expressions. I've studied the material before coming here"

"'Coming here?' Are you a foreigner?"

"Yes. I moved here from England"

"England? How old are you?"

"I'm six. I'm four month older than Light-kun"

Light could only stand there and listen. It was strange, he never bothered with asking such questions. Were Ryuuzaki and him even friends if some random kids knew more about him during five minutes of asking than he while spending months meeting him?

Then his attention sprung right back into place.

"Why did you move?", Yamamoto asked.

"My parents got divorced. That's why mother returned to her birthplace"

Oh. Light didn't even consider this possibility. He simply supposed due to his mother's youth that she got pregnant by accident. But having been _married_…

Light suddenly felt strangely left out, so he tried to made himself the centre of attention again.

"Shall we go and eat cake now?"

And _of course_ that got everybody's attention. Especially that of a certain palish boy who had just revealed his life to some stupid kids and who hadn't even thought about the possibility to tell Light… his _supposed_ friend. But then, did Ryuuzaki even comprehend the concept of friendship? His father mentioned some disorder he had… if only Light had some books about personality disorders!

Speaking of which… Light felt his eye twitching as he observed the Wannabe-Panda munching cake and spreading crumbs _everywhere_. That phenomena was called OCD, Light already overheard that once or twice when being spoken about him in his allegedly absence.

But at least Ryuuzaki wasn't being flocked around anymore. Not that Light was jealous, he just didn't want to make Ryuuzaki feel uncomfortable. Not like he didn't deserve this, after what he just did, but anyhow… Light Yagami was _never _jealous, it was always the contrary!

All people envied him, even adults! So why was it that he, apart from his familiy, only genuinely cared about one little ignorant psycho's opinion?

It was beyond Light's comprehension.

And again, the damn interviewing started all over again.

"Wow, how can you _eat _that much?"

"Why are you so thin?"

"Do you ever blink?"

"Why are you so strange at all?"

Light was deeply frustrated by now. Not that it made him miserable… but being hit by the realisation that his 'friends' cared more for a complete stranger than the birthday's child… okay, it made Light's heart arche. He only wished for _one_ true friend, who would understand and support him whole-heartedly… His eyes darted to Ryuuzaki, who hadn't answered yet but simply had been staring at Light. Creepy idiot.

Ryuuzaki took a look around and blinked once slowly. It was funny that even _blinking_ seemed to happen on purpose.

"Well, truth to be told… I have a disease being called autism." He took a deep breath and returned the wary looks being sent his way.

"…And it's highly contagious"

* * *

**A/N: Dun Dun DUNH! Yes, L's a little drama queen. As is Light, only he is less subtle with it. So, there were a few OCs in this, but they aren't really important. I needed some extras.**

**Thanks again to everybody who read this far :D**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, hello! This is earlier as expected, but this chapter isn't as long as the others (and actually a bit cheesy :D ), so I updated this at once.**

**And I am really happy with the follows and reviews I got! I actually never expected people to like this, so I am overly glad! After seeing that you guys approved of this story, I had to smile all day and now my friends probably think that I'm in love or something. Or got hit really hard with a chair. **

**Anyway, there's really not that much to say about this chapter that hasn't already been mentioned (short and cheesy, yay) so I'm gonna answer some reviews now :D**

**-ExtremeYaoi101: No, he indeed did never blink in the whole anime. Though the excuse for re-watching the show works nevertheless :D**

**-Julie(Guest): I originally didn't plan on including Kira, but I am thinking about writing a little 'What if...'-story when this is over and I still feel like writing more about this.**

**-Seishirou Histsugara: Well, this is revealed within the first two paragraphs, so I'd suggest to start reading!**

**-GenoVera**

**P.S: Story reposted due to some grammar mistakes. Thanks to the one who pointed this out, I hope I got them all.**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Meaning of Friendship

Not to mention, the atmosphere was tense after all the children began to gasp in shock and called their parents to "save them from the murderous sickness". Yuri even started to cry and screamed "I don't wanna sit like a monkey!".

So it came that Light's sixth birthday ended in a disaster, with only Ryuuzaki being left since his mother went out for work. Under the piercing and accusing glance of Light's parents, which was directly sent upon the unperturbed party-crasher, Light grabbed Ryuuzaki's hand and pulled him upstairs to get a little rest from the stress.

Ryuuzaki sat on the bed in his usually manner while Light observed him while sitting on the chair with an unreadable expression.

"Well, that was overly dramatic", Ryuuzaki stated after a while.

"Not really. You should have expected this to happen"

"I did"

Silence followed and Light's gaze intensified. Ryuuzaki didn't feel in the slightest uncomfortable, though. If Light hated him from there on, it would be fine with him. It was meanwhile undeniable that he couldn't handle humans anyway.

But then Ryuuzaki looked up with even wider eyes than usual as Light began bursting out into laughter.

"What amuses Light-kun that much?", he asked curiously.

Light gasped for air, slowly calming down.

"That was probably the funniest party I've ever had. And the most eventful at that."

"And the shortest, I assume?", Ryuuzaki asked, feeling an unexpected and strange feeling of… relief. He didn't even know he had bothered.

"And the shortest!", Light confirmed. "God, I hate those people"

"And Light-kun doesn't hate me?"

Light's demeanor changed abruptly, from cheerful to serious.

"No, I do not hate you"

"Although I've crashed your party?"

"Although you've crashed my party. Why did you do this in the first place anyway?"

Ryuuzaki shrugged.

"I'm not good with people?", he offered. "I'm socially retarded? A sadist? A psycho? You could also try and blame my disease, though… »

Light cerebrated and rubbed his eyes. Then it hit him. In his beautiful face.

"You did it for _me_?",he asked, completely caught off-guard.

Ryuuzaki tilted his head like a bird and watched Light with big, round, innocent eyes.

"That's quite the contradiction. Making Light-kun happy by ruining his festivity?"

"Oh yeah!", Light said eagerly. "You coped with all the attention until you noticed how uncomfortable I felt, didn't you? And then you decided to help me by taking such drastic measures! Of course something like that would be, if being expected at all, expected by _you._ That's brilliant"

"I'm touched, , but you're wrong. I did it merely for my own entertaining purposes. I'm socially awkward, remember?"

Light snorted.

"Yeah, right."

Both genius children looked at each other for a while, listening to heated discussions being led downstairs.

"Ah, by the way, you got me a present?"

Ryuuzaki nodded.

"A common sign of gratitude for being invited to free cake and tea."

"No, I mean _you _got me a present? All by yourself?"

"I was not influenced, if Light-kun wanted to indicate that."

"All the other gifts are usually chosen by the person's parents. So I'm really excited to see what you've got me."

Ryuuzaki nodded and drew his hand in a position that showed the little box being clutched by chubby, pale fingers. Light's lips parted slightly.

"You smuggled it all the way up here? While this turmoil was going on?"

"I thought Light-kun may appreciate the distraction", Ryuuzaki mumbled.

"Well, don't _you _set priorities. I was genuinely worried about your head down there! Well, I still am, but now the chance of getting you past my infuriated father has increased."

"I have confidence in Light-kun's persuasiveness. And now you may unwrap your soon-to-be property."

"My _gift_, Ryuu"

"As I said", Ryuuzaki responded, not missing the sudden use of a nickname. Well, Light-kun sure was emotional today.

Light literally _ripped_ the wrapping paper apart, revealing a little shimmering object. He held it delicately against the sun, admiring its bronze-like reflection.

"A _watch_?"

"An useful one at that"

"Wow, it must have been really expensive", Light said while trailing his fingers down the outline of the clock.

"There's more to it. I think it perfectly fits Light-kun's personality. And watch this…"

Ryuuzaki patted towards Light and pulled the little outstanding advise four times, whereupon a hidden fold snapped out, containing nothing but leaving a little space to put something in.

"It's amazing", Light said in awe, his cocoa-brown eyes sparkling.

Before he could restrict himself, he tossed the present aside (nonetheless carefully, but still rapidly) and slung his tiny arms around Ryuuzaki's slender waist.

The two toddlers stood like this in the centre of the room, hugging each other and not saying anything.

It ended abruptly, as Light regained his composure and drew back. Ryuuzaki was genuinely taken off-guard and the change of closeness followed by distance sent shivers down his spine. He didn't even know what purpose Light-kun had tried to accomplish.

Light timidly drew circles with one food. He now knew that Ryuuzaki was truly his only friend, despite the fact that they didn't share their secrets. And that wouldn't be necessary either, as long as they understood each other.

"Ryuuzaki… Do you think we're true friends?", Light asked, eager to hear the autist's opinion of their relationship. And Ryuuzaki seemed to seriously contemplate this question for a little time, then he smiled slightly.

"Yes. Light-kun is my first-ever friend"

Light grinned contentedly and put the watch around his wrist. It really fit perfectly.

"I think I should invite you more often. Not only do you chose great presents, but you also get rid of unwelcome intruders"

"Light-kun shouldn't get the impression that I won't expect him to return those favours, though."

"Don't worry, I'll get you some cake"

"Buying kindness with cake? That's rather low, Light-kun. But I shall accept for the sake of our new-found friendship"

"And your appetite?"

"Precisely"

They were then interrupted by the sound of the door bell, followed by footsteps. The door of Light's room opened.

"Ryuuzaki? Your mother came to get you", Sachiko announced, after confirming that the two were alright. More precisely, her son.

Ryuuzaki turned around and was led downstairs by her. There he met the serious eyes of her mother and he immediately knew that she was disappointed. However, he couldn't quite figure out the reason. Light-kun was pleased with his action, so he had made him happy on his birthday party, right? Right.

"Let's go", Sakura said and put one hand on her son's shoulder.

"I again beg your pardon, Yagami-san. It wasn't his intention to ruin Light's birthday festivity."

"And he didn't", Ryuuzaki interfered, but was met by a disapproving look from his mother, which immediately shut him up.

"It's alright, I know it's not entirely his fault…", Sachiko said tentatively and mustered Ryuuzaki with a pitying expression on her round face. The black-haired child didn't like the sound of this.

"Goodbye then.", Sakura said and bowed extremely low in front of Sachiko, whose mother instinct seemed to have taken over her anger, and in front of Light's father who hadn't said anything to the children the entire time.

Then they left and Light stayed behind. He couldn't anticipate his parent's reaction to everything, so he wanted to leave the stage and disappear into his room, but was hindered by his father who led him into the living room where Sachiko and Light sat down. Soichiro opened his mouth to speak…

"Mommy, are you disappointed?", a small voice asked.

Sakura met her son's gaze with tired eyes.

"No, honey… I'm just sad."

Sad? Ryuuzaki chewed on his thumb nervously. He didn't like the guilt he felt. Had he made his mother sad? He thought he hadn't done anything significantly wrong. Well, there was the thing with deterring a whole bunch of Light-kun's so-called friends, but that had been required by the host himself, wasn't it true?

"Due to my action?", Ryuuzaki asked carefully.

Sakura didn't know what to say. There were times when she was glad to be young, not to be separated from her son due to the age, but right now she felt simply overwhelmed. It didn't help that Ryuuzaki wasn't the simplest child either.

"Well… you do understand what you have done, right? Causing a ruff at another child's birthday party… ?"

"My action was justified. Light-kun didn't only forgive me, but approved of it. Therefore I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

Sakura looked up.

"The Yagami-kid did approve…?"

"He thought it was kind of funny"

Sakura sighed and relaxed.

"Well, that's one problem less to deal with. But what about the other children? Their parents? The Yagami-couple?"

"I'm not in the slightest interested in them. They can't compete with Light-kun's intellect and tolerance" Ryuuzaki took a deep breath and stared through the window. "I think we are friends"

Sakura's eyes widened as she heard that. It already has been nice hearing Ryuuzaki not calling the Yagami-kid dumb and single-minded, as he did with other kids his age (and the rest of mankind, actually), but she'd never thought that her son would go that far as to call any person 'friend'. And suddenly his behavior made sense. If Light had thought it was funny… Of course somebody with the peculiar reasoning Ryuuzaki possessed would jump to the conclusion that this action was justified. Maybe he had even done it only for the sake of Light, which would be social acting, something quite atypical for her son.

"I understand.", Sakura murmured and patted her son's head. "If you did it for your friendship, then everything should be alright"

If Sakura'd had any doubts regarding the rightness of her reaction, they would have completely disappeared by the sight of two shining black orbs lighting up of relief. The opinion of his mother was still more important to him than the opinion of society.

"Now, shall we play a little chess again?", Sakura asked and Ryuuzaki nodded eagerly, already unfolding himself and tapping his way through the living room.

* * *

"I think you should quit meeting the Rue-child", Soichiro said with a serious face.

Light tensed and opened his mouth. That came completely unexpected.

"Why?", was the only thing he could respond.

Soichiro laid back and breathed once. It would be a long debate.

"Look, you know that Ryuuzaki has a disease called autism, right?" Light nodded, a frown showing on his face. He didn't like where this was going.

"However, you seem to spend a lot of time with him, which I believe will do him something good. But you must consider that your mother and I noticed that you don't meet with your other friends anymore, do you understand?"

Light inwardly rolled his eyes. Those 'friends' they were talking about didn't matter in the slightest.

"So what?", Light remarked, sounding strangely snappy. It was completely out of character for the little well-raised boy.

"I'm afraid Ryuuzaki manipulates you. He has finally found a friend and now he doesn't want to share. The today's incident confirms my suspicion"

"That's not true! I've chosen Ryuuzaki over my other friends, because he is intelligent and funny and has many interesting hobbies which we can practice together!"

Soichiro sighed again. Exactly what he had expected.

"Light, please. I've seen many cases of autism in my career, so I know what I'm talking about. Ryuuzaki has already greatly influenced you. We just want you to be happy, and this won't happen if you're too fixated upon a guy who doesn't understand the true meaning of friendship"

"Then I'll teach him", Light announced, his arms crossed.

"Light…", Sachiko interfered with a worried voice.

"I'll teach him! If he doesn't know the concepts of friendship, I'll teach him! And then you won't have any arguments in my choice of friends anymore!"

And with that, the auburn-haired boy jumped up and ran towards room, closing the door behind him and blocking the entire world out. There he had the silence to think. Even _if_ Ryuuzai was manipulating him, Light was sure he would never find a person that interesting as the monkey-king with his wriggling toes. And he would make sure he didn't become antisocial. He has always been the type of person who got along well with _everybody_. That wouldn't prove problematic. Now he only had to convince his parents. Or not. He was Light Yagami, and he was quite confident he'd find a way to maintain his first friendship.

Pleased with himself, he sat back and and smiled. He'd make sure to play the role of the perfect son until his parents finally approved of his friendship. Which couldn't last very long, he assumed. He was perfect on the surface, after all.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, that was the second chapter! I hope you like where this is going, for I don't plan to skip the entire childhood, as you may have guessed. Quite the contrary, it will rather develop slowly with occasional time leaps only. I didn't want to do something like 'They meet, they become friends, they have sex'. I think both L and Light are such awesome characters that they deserve many chapters to evolve. So please bear with me here, 'cause when I said 'Yaoi in later chapters' I really meant '_later chapters_'. **

**So enjoy the cuteness of child-L and -Light as long as you can :D (I am still mildly amazed that nobody questioned the freckles I unceremoniously stuck in Light's face since I'm sure that they would be criticised, along with L's autism. But hey, there's really a reason as to why I took the freedom to add those details [or at least some kind of private background-story] so don't throw with rocks, please ;_; )**

**See you in the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello there!**

**Soooo... Long chapter is long? And it is full of sappiness again! Seriously, if this story had a Cute-O-Metre, it'd probably puke rainbows by now!**

**And aside from that... Intense Emotions! Crappy School Systems! Violence! Beach Scenes! AND a totally not-badly-impromptu explanation for the usage of 'L'! Yay! Realistic as hell! And I want to punch Soichiro in the face.**

**-GenoVera :D**

**P.S: As always, thanks to everyone who read this far! You're awesome!**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Way Life Teaches Lessons

"Light? Light, are you excited?"

Light had hardly paid attention to what was said to him, but now he snapped back from his dreamland into reality. He didn't quite know what was going on, so he tried to give a casual, general response.

"Why should I be excited?" he asked.

Sachiko clasped her hands in a playful chide.

"Light, the day after tomorrow is your first day in school!"

Oh yeah. His first day in school. How could he have forgotten? Some time has passed since he turned six and soon he would be a student. Ryuuzaki of course already had the privilege to go to school, but he didn't take it seriously. In fact, Light and Ryuuzaki hardly met since Soichiro's outburst, and the only thing Ryuuzaki had to say was that "school was too boring without Light-kun, therefore he preferred staying at home with private studying".

That didn't harm Light's motivation, however. He knew that the autistic was easily bored and Light was sure that school couldn't be that bad. It was an institution for education purposes, after all.

"But I'm sure I'll be fine", Light announced with typical confidence. Sachiko beamed.

"Of course you will"

Both Soichiro and Sachiko sat a moment in silence, imagining their perfect son fitting perfectly in the new environment and behaving perfectly well. It was an image that went well with Light, nobody could deny it.

The moment was ruined by Sayu, who abruptly woke up and let out a series of tremendous screams. Well, not every child could be as silent and well-behaved as Light.

* * *

"Honey? What are you doing?"

Sakura stood sleepily in the threshold to Ryuuzaki's room and watched a swirl of black hair rummaging through an enormous backpack.

"I'm packing", a muffled voice announced. Ryuuzaki's head was currently stuck in the depths of his bag.

"It's 11 pm. You should be sleeping by now."

"I plan to attend school tomorrow. Therefore I have to pack a few things in order to prepare myself."

"You're going to school? I thought you wanted to wait until…"

The clog that enfolded Sakura's brain lifted and was replaced by sudden understanding.

"Light's going too?"

"Yes!", Ryuuzaki beamed, finally emerging from his satchel. His hair was even more ruffled than usually and his cheeks were dashed pink from childish eagerness. It was a sight that made Sakura's heart melt. She enfolded her arms.

"Come here"

Ryuuzaki checked one last time whether he had forgotten something (Ryuuzaki and forgetting something? The mere thought seemed to be ridiculous) and threw himself in his mother's arms. He snuggled his fluffy hair against the young mother's shoulder and yawned. Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around the human bundle. Ryuuzaki was always clingy when he was tired, although the boy needed remarkably little sleep for someone his age.

Sakura carried Ryuuzaki to her bedroom, where she laid herself and her son down. Almost instantly Ryuuzaki cuddled close to her and soon fell asleep. Sakura, now fully awake, would need a little time to calm down again. Until then she would simply think and plan, both things she liked doing. Despite her young age, she was a very independent and well-organized young woman, sometimes a bit messy, but never really sloppy. She intended to build her two-headed family a cozy little life in the little Japanese suburb.

The closeness to Light Yagami was certainly a good sign and Sakura really wished for her son that he'd loosen up a bit, that he'd find friends, play with them and do all those silly things children were supposed to do. Because, although Ryuuzaki was pretty childish, it seemed rather that he was an adult sticking in a children's body who _tried_ to be a child. The thought seemed to be dubious, silly even, but that's the impression Sakura was given. And she was pretty good at observing people. Such as the Yagami-kid's parents.

Sakura had tried her best, really. She was nice, demanding, fawning, strict and even a bit aggressive in order to convince the Yagami seniors of her son's harmlessness, but all in vain. They were as stubborn as Light was, only not as analytical, but clouded with emotions. Even Sakura could see the little boy's desperate attempt to be the featured son, although he wanted to be a little imperfect from time to time.

She relaxed a bit as she thought about what would happen. There was only one acceptable elementary school in the direct surroundings, therefore Light and Ryuuzaki would see each other every day in school.

It also eased Sakura a bit, since she used to leave Ryuuzaki by himself when she was working at the little bakery around the corner. Of course, sometimes Ryuuzaki would tag along, but he was quickly bored and was content only getting hold of a few sweets Sakura would give him. After that he'd return to his room, doing his little games and strange hobbies Sakura so admired.

And Sakura always had to work long and hard, since she was the only source of income their little household had to exhibit. But then, she couldn't think of a life more perfect as long as she and her son had each other.

With a smile on her face, she fell asleep.

* * *

Light made sure he looked as presentable as possible. He wanted his first day in school to be memorable, so he spent an hour combing his hair, fixing his tiny suit with a red tie and polishing his shoes. Sachiko watched her son's effort with a smile that literally spelled 'Light is so sweet when he plays adult'. But Light by no means intended to 'play adult'. He was now one step closer to adulthood and that's what he wanted to show himself and the world.

The school was nearby, so Light walked together with his family. The family radiated an aura of peacefulness and pride. A picture-perfect image.

Light was bidden farewell quite dramatically, with his mother pecking his cheeks several times and his father patting his shoulder and giving him a 'I know you won't disappoint me'-look. Light endured it all, until he was released and could enter the building.

Inside he was greeted by a small hallway and a woman who smiled at him warmly. She waved slightly and greeted Light. Light bowed and the woman's smile intensified. Of course Light had this effect on adults. He was then led to his future classroom at the end of a hallway. Since it was a little school, there were only about ten children sitting on their chairs and their chit-chattering ended abruptly when Light stepped in. The auburn haired boy immediately appreciated the warm colour of the walls and the tidiness of the room.

"Hello, children, I want you to welcome your new class mate, Light Yagami"

Several muffled murmurs resounded and Light gave them his best smile. He was led to a single table between a brown-haired boy and an empty desk. Light briefly wondered if there were yet more new pupils to come.

The boy next to him mustered Light and grinned gleefully.

"Did ya mother clothe you?"

"No, I'm quite capable of dressing myself. It's a skill you don't seem to possess, by the look of it"

It was true, the boy next to Light was obviously a slob. Not the kind of slob Light knew from Ryuuzaki, but the _bad_ one, with sweaty hair and bad teeth.

_Wait_, Light thought immediately, _there are _good_ slobs_? Ryuuzaki certainly had a bad influence on him.

"Yeah, whatever, mommy's boy"

Light graced the nuisance with a cold glare and paid then attention to the teacher, who was about to start the class. Their first lesson would be Japanese, and Light was looking forward to it. Right now he knew many complicated kanji, but he hoped he could increase their amount in school.

However, he would soon be disappointed. The teacher made it clear after only fifteen minutes that they weren't about to get to the really advanced stuff. Light sighed heavily and sunk back in his chair. Ryuuzaki was right, school indeed wasn't sophisticated. Had Light to wait three more years to learn something interesting? The thought was highly discouraging.

He snapped out of his thoughts when suddenly the door was opened silently. Strange, Light hadn't heard any knocking.

He then got to know why, because the one that entered was a familiar figure. Black, messy hair, pale skin and a muffin in one hand… Yes, the figure was _quite_ familiar.

Ryuuzaki shuffled to the empty chair next to Light without a word, he didn't even look at the teacher. The whole class had stopped in whatever activity they were doing and gaped at such a disrespectful scene.

"Good day, Light-kun. Anything interesting so far?", Ryuuzaki asked between two bites of his sweet.

Light could only stare. Then the wheels in his brain began to turn and he regained his composure.

"No. I think you were right"

Ryuuzaki stopped midway in his movement and gazed at Light with his big, black eyes.

"Is there a time I am not?", he asked and Light couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. It was always the same with the owl-like face.

"Ahem"

Both Light and Ryuuzaki turned their attention to the teacher, who stood with a piercing gaze in front of Ryuuzaki.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your little chat but I'd like to go on with my class"

Light noticed how her friendly face was now wrinkled in badly disguised anger.

"Ryuuzaki, you're late. Under normal circumstances I'd be pleased if a pupil like you actually _attended_ my class, but your behaviour is highly impudent and you disrupt my lessons constantly. If you have trouble reading the clock then at least I expect a decent apology from you"

Ryuuzaki returned the glare sent his way without looking in the slightest bothered. He wriggled his toes (which made a few children giggle) and began his speech.

"I won't apologise. Quite the contrary, I think you, as the authority, should know better than giving in to the level you're right now representing and better start respecting my individuality such as I'm supposed to admire your authority. I only attend your classes for entertaining purposes and since education is far more often required in this nation than actual intelligence. Which you don't seem to possess if you are unable to fulfill my intellectual cravings. And yes, you _should _be glad about me attending your lessons since I am by greater means a better educator than you are."

The teacher looked deadpanned and angry at the same time.

She seemed to contemplate her possible actions, but found none since conversations with the brat's mother also turned out to be utterly useless. Had to be a family thing.

Sighing, she admitted defeat and returned to her place in front of the class. She luckily didn't notice Light and Ryuuzaki exchanging victorious smiles. Otherwise she sure would have contemplated running away.

* * *

The day marched on and Light and Ryuuzaki surely didn't give the teacher an easy time. They were constantly competing with each other on subjects far too complicated for six-year-olds and they started picking on the other children, especially the slob and his friends Light came in contact with earlier.

However, making fun of other people wasn't as easy for Light as it was for Ryuuzaki, since he could see the hurtful expression in his victim's eyes which Ryuuzaki seemed to completely dismiss.

At the end, Light packed his back but was held back by the teacher.

"Light? I'd like to talk to you for a minute" She glanced at Ryuuzaki standing next to them and hissed: "_Alone_"

Ryuuzaki, however, didn't stir until Light nodded and said "Wait for me outside".

The two made a silent agreement to share what would take place here. The teacher had no idea exactly _how_ well the two boys understood each other.

Ryuuzaki left the room and the woman became serious.

"Are you two close?"

"We're friends", Light answered truthfully. The teacher nodded, more to herself than to Light.

"I don't think he's the right company for you"

Wait, what? Light had expected her not to be pleased about his friendship to Ryuuzaki, but he'd never think she'd be that blunt about it. Why was it that everybody tried to separate them?

"Look, Ryuuzaki certainly influences you in a bad way. Although I've only seen him here a few times, I have enough experience to say that he isn't the lovliest person on earth. I'd even go that far to say he doesn't care for anyone except for himself. You seem to be a caring and social person, I've seen it in your dealings with others. This whole thing can't do you any good."

Light nodded. He was already bored. This adult was as dumb and superficial as all the others. Light could deceive them with his appearance alone. They thought of him as superior to Ryuuzaki, as more decent and more socially accepted. But that was an illusion. Ryuuzaki and he were almost the same inwardly, they both sought a purpose in life, a valve for their minds. Ryuuzaki would rely on drastic measures to fulfill this goal, as would Light. But of course, while Ryuuzaki had the excuse, the _right_, to turn his dark inside out, Light had to be perfect for his family and friends. That was okay for him, as long as people wouldn't give him this moral nonsense.

So Light promised to take care of himself and to be more critical with Ryuuzaki. He didn't intend to do it. He just wanted to get out of this room, this school, this society.

So he returned to Ryuuzaki and told him everything that had taken place. The pale boy nodded, such as he had expected something like that. He was also seemingly unperturbed by Light's fake promise. He simply tilted his head and proceeded then to leave the building.

Light followed, but a surprise awaited him outside. His family stood there to accompany him home.

"Light-kun, your family is here", Ryuuzaki announced unnecessarily.

"You don't say", Light muttered back. He then walked towards his mother, who didn't have the frown in her face like his father had after seeing Light together with Ryuuzaki.

Light was greeted by a straight forward "How was it?" and he explained with acted excitement what they did today and how easy it was for him. His parents seemed satisfied, whereas Ryuuzaki watched him with a serious dullness in his eyes.

Sachiko put a hand on her son's shoulder.

"Let's head back then."

Light nodded. "I'm sure I'm going to find the way alone tomorrow"

Ryuuzaki realised that this was Light's way of saying 'I am not a baby anymore, please stop spoiling me'.

The black haired child was about to simply stick along, when Light's father turned around and gave him an unwelcoming look which would have put off any other kid but Ryuuzaki.

"Won't your mother come to get you?", he asked and it sounded like 'Are you sure something like you should walk around unaccompanied?'.

Ryuuzaki shrugged it off.

"My mother is working. I thought I could escort Light back to his home"

Light laughed.

"It is more like _us_ escorting _you_, Ryuu!"

_Ryuu_ then pouted. He didn't like the nickname Light would pull out every time when he randomly met his parents only to point out their closeness. It was a strategy that didn't seem to affect Soichiro anyway.

Maybe Ryuuzaki should finally start the tactic he hadn't relied on yet, simply because it was Light's strategy: Using one's cuteness.

But Ryuuzaki never liked the idea of manipulating people's feelings by not being earnest about his own _personality_. It was a kind of honesty that, although it seemed to be strongly rejected in this society, was very important to Ryuuzaki.

So he went straight forward like always.

"Yagami-san, why do you hate me?"

The question took everyone off-guard, including Light and, of course, the person in question himself.

"Wh… I do not _hate_ you, Ryuuzaki. It's just…"

"I am not good enough for your son?", Ryuuzaki interrupted.

Soichiro coughed uncomfortably.

"Well… I'd prefer it if he had other friends beside you"

Ryuuzaki didn't even think about that. It was obvious to him that this was far from the truth. Soichiro was avoiding direct questions, like adults always did.

"So it is not my association, but the lack of others. That's interesting, since it meant that my friendship is accepted as long as Light sought other friends. But you are clearly disapproving of me under all circumstances. Why, I must ask?"

Another cough.

"You… it is really nothing personally, but…" Soichiro's voice trailed. True, he didn't like Ryuuzaki, but he couldn't tell a six-year-old in the face that he thought of him as emotionally incapable of forming serious friendships.

Ryuuzaki meanwhile looked to the ground.

"Ah. So it's due to my autism? You won't allow me any social contact since I'm having a hard time having social contact?"

Soichiro's eyes widened. It sounded horrible if you put it like that. But, of course, Ryuuzaki had hit the nail right on the head. That was basically what Soichiro was thinking. Even Sachiko looked repelled at this moment.

"But I assure you that I really want to be Light's friend! It is the first voluntarily formed relationship that feels nice. Spending time with Light-kun, I can simply be myself without constantly being judged! And that is why I'm as earnest about this as Light-kun is. So please, do not take away such a thing from both of us! It is not only me who struggles with your restriction, but also your son! He has to endure enormous pressure to prove he is worth of a friendship he has the very right to have under any circumstances! You make both of us miserable. It isn't only about me. Not this time."

Ryuuzaki had nearly screamed during his speech, but at the end his voice trailed off and he looked to the side. It wasn't like him to raise his voice, or, God beware, show such human emotions. He couldn't recall a time something like this happened. It was only the fact that it was about Light-kun and… he had suddenly felt anger building inside him, so he had let it out, before it could boil inside of him, like his mother once advised him to do.

At least, this is how people dealt with feelings, right? They let them out.

Ryuuzaki raised his head and found everyone looking at him with various expressions. Soichiro looked downright guilty, Sachiko surprised, and Light… Light looked absolutely impressed. Ryuuzaki noticed how his caramel eyes glimmered with pride. Was he proud because _he_ had made Ryuuazke lose his cold demeanor? That would be typical for the young narcissist. Ryuuzaki had regained his control and looked Soichiro expectantly in the eyes. The father sighed in defeat.

"I have to apologise. I think I was biased and unjust towards you. I will no longer forbid you seeing my son"

Light's eyes sparkled right then, only due to joy and not, as Ryuuzaki had expected, due to pride. The pale boy gave him a small smile. Light then jumped forwards and threw Ryuuzaki into a hug. That boy sure liked hugging, Ryuuzaki thought to himself. At least hugging _him_, who right now suppressed his usual dislike for physical contact and endured Light's cuddle attack. He sure would have punched any other kid who dared doing _that_.

After Ryuuzaki had freed himself from Light, the group started finally moving again. They reached their goal in silence, only interrupted by a bit of chit-chatting.

They separated and Ryuuzaki went to his house alone. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't cope with too much Light-Kun-ness at once. Not to mention the other social interactions he had had that day. Humans were pretty exhausting. He marched into his room and placed himself on the favourite spot on the bed, reading another one of his books. That should calm the introvert inside him down, he assumed. And Ryuuzaki was always right.

* * *

The days passed without any incidents, except that the teacher in school seemed to be seriously contemplating an early retirement, until, ten days after the wonderful moment when Light and Ryuuzaki got the permission to officially meet, Sakura was invited by Sachiko, whom she met at her workplace, to a picnic in the park together with the children. Of course the confectioner couldn't say no.

* * *

It was a wonderful day in February and the weather in Japan was warm and sunny. Soichiro drove them to a little, comfy park with a lake and trees surrounding it. They stopped and the children immediately jumped out and ran towards the water.

"Be careful, you two!", Sachiko yelled, but the boys didn't even bother responding.

The women unfolded the blanket and prepared the food. Sakura brought pastries and other sweets whereas Sachiko took care of the healthy part. The three-year old Sayu was placed comfortably in a toddler's chair. Soichiro, Sachiko and Sakura sat down and began to talk like adults always did when they gathered.

"Do you think there are any poisonous fish in here?", Light asked excited.

"I doubt it. The climate isn't typical for said species and your parents most certainly wouldn't let us go near the lake if they were any dangers"

"What a pity", Light pouted.

"We could buy some piranhas from an animal store and try settle them here". Ryuuzaki proposed upon seeing the disappointed look on his friend's face.

"Only if you explain this to Greenpeace", Light countered and poked one finger in the water.

Ryuuzaki was slightly disgusted, he could practically _see_ all the germs floating around in the water.

"I want to go swimming! What about it?", Light exclaimed after feeling the perfect temperature of the water. There weren't any other kids, either, so the lake would be for them alone.

"Of course I won't prevent Light-kun from his bath", Ryuuzaki said and watched his reflection in the water. It was still the same pale face with those big, black eyes. They looked disapprovingly into the dark depths of the lake.

"Don't be silly, I wanted us both to go!", Light announced and turned to face his friend who sat in his usual perch in front of the shore, looking gloomy.

Swimming alone wouldn't be any fun, so Light needed a plan to get Ryuuzaki into the water.

"Oh, don't tell me you cannot swim", he teased with a smirk.

"Of course I can swim. But there's no need to prove it"

"So you don't like swimming?", Light asked

"Not particularly, no. However, if Light is that eager about having company while swimming, I shall bath my feet."

"I don't want to be accompanied by your filthy feet."

"That's the furthest I will go."

Light thought about that. What would be the most effective way of making that little bullhead go into the water?

Light smirked. If there wouldn't be a _psychological _way, then…

"Don't be a coward, Ryuuzaki! I promise I will hold your hand"

Ryuuzaki wasn't impressed. The two bickered back and forth a while, then Light finally gave in.

"All right! I am going to swim by myself before our time here is up! You are _so _stubborn!"

Ryuuzaki was satisfied. The two wandered a little to the right to reach a deeper place of the lake, since Light wanted to jump in all at once. Light got rid of all his clothes except his trunks which he'd worn under his clothes already.

After the first minute in the water. Light could indeed confirm that the water was perfect. Ryuuzaki paddled his feet around and seemed to be lost in thought. That was Light's chance! He could dive quite a long time, so his plan was to swim to Ryuuzaki in his secret-agent-mode, pull his feet and let him fall into the water! Maybe it wasn't brilliant, but it would work. Once in, Ryuuzaki would be furious, but surely he'd get over with it. And since he'd be in the water anyway, why not stay?

Light inhaled deeply and disappeared under the surface. He swam carefully and slowly, so that Ryuuzaki couldn't possibly see him. He almost reached his goal, when…

When he suddenly hesitated. It was too easy. Too _mean_. It wouldn't be a victory for Light, but a loss for Ryuuzaki. And… surely Ryuuzaki had let his guard down because he expected Light to play fair. Because he _trusted _Light. Could that be?

Light re-emerged and took a few breathes. He rubbed the water out of his eyes and once he could see clearly again, he found Ryuuzaki sitting in front of him, feet still dangling and eyes widened from curiosity. One thumb was stuck between his lips.

"Light-kun didn't want to pull me?", he asked.

Light's eyes grew large. So he knew.

"It would be unfair, wouldn't it? To take advantage of your naiveness…"

Ryuuzaki didn't feel insulted.

"Light-kun was kind", he observed cheerfully and rotated his legs.

"I wasn't kind!", Light contradicted. "I was merely playing fair!"

"No. The game is not important to Light-kun, but the _victory_ is. You forwent your victory due to kindness."

Light's eyes narrowed and he looked slightly dangerous despite his young age and the freckles adorning his face. He quickly took a hand full of water and splattered it across Ryuuzaki's badly-fitting shirt.

"That was childish", Ryuuzaki mumbled, and then he did something Light wouldn't have expected: He undressed. He too wore trunks beneath his trousers, blue ones with white cupcakes on it, and he even took off his shirt.

It was the first time Light saw him without his over-sized clothes, and Ryuuzaki was even thinner underneath them than Light had thought. He had such a small frame that Light didn't even wonder about the big clothes anymore. It would be hard to find anything that really _fit_.

"Light-kun, staring is impolite"

Light snapped back into reality.

"Sorry, it's just that you're that _thin_. How do you do that with eating all the junk food?"

"Sweets aren't junk food, Light-kun. But beside that, I have a very fast metabolism. The thinking process requires a lot of calories."

Light snorted, but didn't say anything in return.

Ryuuzaki then carefully poked the water with one finger, as to confirm it hadn't turned into a flesh-eating monster since the moment he had removed his feet.

"Are you going to go in now or not?", Light remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"Light-kun shouldn't be that impatient. It's a very bad character trade"

"Yes, you're the one to know", Light murmured.

Ryuuzaki finally let himself glide into the water. It felt strange for him at first, his over-sensitive skin being surrounded completely by a cool, wavering liquid and it felt like an impulse overload, but soon he'd adjusted somewhat.

"Is Light-kun content now?", he asked, still not quite knowing what exactly to do with his floating body.

Light started laughing. Ryuuzaki looked like he was utterly overwhelmed by such a simple thing as water. Really, it was ridiculous. Ryuuzaki shot him a warning glance, which encouraged Light's laughing fit only more.

"Oh, before I forget…", Ryuuzaki began and quickly splashed some water directly in Light's face.

"An eye for an eye", he announced satisfiedly as Light coughed and tried rubbing drops of water from his eyes.

But Light clearly didn't understand the concept of 'an eye for an eye', because he then returned the action Ryuuzaki had performed one minute ago, and due to both genii's competitive nature, he started one of the greatest water battles two six-year-old boys could have, including some foul tricks from Light and some cunning tactics from Ryuuzaki. Not far away from this little display, the adults sat contently around the blanket, but paused when they heard yelling emitting from the lake. They turned their heads and saw the two boys in the water, seemingly absorbed in their little game.

Soichiro then didn't regret his change of mind; seeing his son carefree like this wasn't a sight he'd retrieve often. Now that he'd come to think about it, never. Maybe the boy really hadn't have any real friends up until now, as Sachiko suspected.

Soichiro looked to his wife, who wore a expression of pure motherly love and joy. Sakura next to her wore a similar one, only mixed with a little bit of incredulity. It made sense to Soichiro, seeing a child like Ryuuzaki behaving like this would of course be more of a surprise than seeing Light behaving like this.

"It's so nice that Light has found such a good friend", Sachiko beamed. Sakura could only nod. She still didn't know what her son could have done to provoke the sudden change of mind Light's parents were performing; but that he refused to answer when she had asked him about it surely wasn't assuring.

"Yes, one can really tell they like each other", Soichiro acknowledged. "I mean, they even said this themselves "

Sakura cocked her ears.

"Ryuuzaki said this?", she asked in disbelief. Sachiko's browns wrinkled.

"Yes! He has come up with a pretty impressive speech on boot! Didn't he tell you?"

"No…", Sakura responded thoughtfully. Now that she knew this, there could only be one possible reason as to why Ryuuzaki didn't want to talk about it.

"Was he very passionate?", Sakura asked.

Sachiko rubbed her round chin.

"One could say so, yes. He seemed to be very emotional"

Yes, Sakura was right. There was only one thing she knew of which made Ryuuzaki ashamed: His feelings.

He simply wasn't good at displaying them in public, and whenever he did, he contemplated for hours whether he'd said something that could ruin whatever he was currently up to.

But of course, it was a great revelation. If something was important enough to Ryuuzaki that he would let his emotions overtake, then it meant a great deal. And that he did it for a friend could even be seen as progress, as 'normal'. Although Sakura viewed her son as generally normal. He just had his oddities.

Sakura smiled.

"That's nice", she whispered and Sachiko nodded affirmative. Only Soichiro could partly grasp the true meaning behind this single sentence.

They were then suddenly distracted by two soaked, water dripping creatures standing in front of them. Light, with his glistening hair and eyes seemed to have become even more shining, whereas Ryuuzaki with now pitch-black hair spluttered around his face, created an even more distinct contrast to him. With his hair being straightened by the water, only leaving one big eye to look beneath this curtain, he looked even younger. Soichiro would have guessed him as four, hardly old enough to even _stand_, but there he was, competing with his son both physically and mentally. This equality was the foundation of their bond, the family father assumed.

"We require some towels", Ryuuzaki said, voice stable again, nothing compared to the yells he'd expressed a few moments ago.

"Of course", Sakura said and unfolded a towel in front of her. Now, normally Ryuuzaki isn't too fond of showing affection in presence of others, but at the moment he simply didn't seem to care. Instead, he snuggled himself cozily in his mother's lap and let her ruffle him with the towel. Light watched this scene with amusement as he dried himself without any support.

Ryuuzaki then even snuggled closer and Light realised that Ryuuzaki really was clingy if he'd found a person he could trust. That was the real Ryuuzaki under that cold, arrogant surface. The one who sought human contact. The fact Ryuuzaki had showed this to Light had also meant a great amount of trust. Light was flattered. His freckles suddenly seemed to dance and Ryuuzaki, upon looking at the boy, knew quite well that he had realised. It was a silent form of communication between them, the kind of one nobody else could understand.

"Shall we eat then?", Light proposed.

There it was again. Light returned the favour to Ryuuzaki by allowing him to eat his precious sweets and at the same time he made clear he'd acknowledged what Ryuuzaki had done.

"That's a good idea, Light", Sachiko said and the six of them, including the surprisingly silent Sayu, began to eat.

"Why won't you try some of mommy's sandwiches, Ryuu?", Light asked after having observed Ryuuzaki's sweet devouring for a while. Seriously, the boy had to eat something aside from sweets and evenly sweet dishes? Right now he was munching some sugary rice balls his mother made and looked pretty satisfied while doing so.

"Thank you, Light-kun, but I prefer something with actual nutritional worth.

"What? That's completely contradictory! You're not really claiming that your sugar-trash does more benefit to your body than _real_ food, are you?"

"I am. And will always be doing, by the way"

Light sighed exhaustedly. Sometimes the supposedly genius could be that exasperating.

Light hadn't an slight idea back then exactly _how_ right he was with that statement.

* * *

It was the first test they'd write in school, and it was a math test, on top of everything. Math was both Ryuuzaki's and Light's favourite subject, though Ryuuzaki had a secret passion for languages and that being said, it was therefore unavoidable for them both to get into some kind of silent challenge.

Who would be done first? Who would score higher? Who could look better while writing? (a cathegory in which Light was pretty sure he'd be victorious, and _yes_, it was an official category, dammit!)

The sheets were handed out and Light began to scribble down his knowledge instantly. So did Ryuuzaki, but he kept his cool emotionless façade even in the heat of the battle.

The time the class was given were exactly 45 Minutes, and after 5 minutes Ryuuzaki raised his hand.

_Oh, no, he couldn't_, Light thought. He himself was only one task away from his goal, that couldn't be it!

The teacher noticed Ryuuzaki, who stared at her patiently.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?", she asked, expecting him to make some snappy comment or ask her for a toilet- and/or sweet-break, but he didn't.

"I'm done", he said and the whole class jerked their heads up. They weren't even _remotely _finished!

"Me too!", Light announced suddenly, which made the class to turn their heads like they were currently watching a tennis match.

"It seems like Light-kun is also finished", Ryuuzaki said unnecessarily.

The teacher finally grabbed Ryuuzaki's and Light's sheet and missed the heated glares Light sent Ryuuzaki's way. That show-off never raised his arm before saying anything during normal lessons, so Light assumed that was his way to pronounce his victory loudly and in front of everyone. How pathetic! Light wouldn't even think about stooping _that _low. At least, if he had won…

He clenched his teeth. He could of course still hope that the freak had made some kind of super stupid mistake, but…

"Congratulations, you two! You finished this in an amazing time! And without a single mistake, both of you!"

Why had he even hoped that would happen? He could see Ryuuzaki with some sort of smug expression on his face, corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"May we go then?", Ryuuzaki asked nonchalantly. The teacher seemed to seriously consider this. But then she got up and said:

"I will be back shortly, so don't even make an attempt of cheating!"

She then left the room. Light found it incredibly stupid of her to leave an entire class unobserved, during a _test_ above all, only to occupy two participants of said lesson. Though said participants being awesome and intelligent. Especially him.

And, as expected, a fuss arose.

The pupils almost _pounced_ Light and Ryuuzaki on their search for answers.

"Light! Light! What's the answer for task 3?"

"Light! Is that correct?"

"Can you explain that to me? I'll pay you!"

Light enjoyed the attention he was receiving, although he tried to ignore his admirer's requests. Never would he think about helping those foolish creatures.

Ryuuzaki on the other hand didn't seem to appreciate his temporary popularity, he didn't pay attention to the flocking crowd at all, but he scratched his feet using each other. It was a sign of nervousness, Light had learned through careful observation and four month of knowing the human enigma.

And, of course, Ryuuzaki didn't have a chance of escaping his misere, since he couldn't possibly drown the scatter with his low voice. And Light knew Ryuuzaki disliked being loud or performing emotions in general. Only in company of his mother and, to a certain extent, even Light he'd loosen a bit up.

"Alright, back off, I won't tell you anything!", Light yelled and the children plaguing him partly withdrew, looking disappointed.

But Ryuuzaki still seemed to be overwhelmed by the situation, since a few boys now thought they could get their answers by threatening the pale and seemingly shy boy.

Ryuuzaki felt stressed, incredibly so. The stupid children wouldn't leave him alone. He had no chance of vocal transmission and he couldn't flee either. Now, if the stupid authority would return… but it was hopeless, some people now began harrassing him, he noticed through his thinking cloud.

So, if every other logic failed, he had to resort to simple logic. What did he have? A book. Anything else? A chocolate bar in his pocket. That couldn't be used, of course.

So, a book be it then. What to do with it? Reading. Usually. And now? Ryuuzaki's dark eyes darted to the big boy in the front row who was the most aggressive. Ryuuzaki's facial expression did not shift an inch, as he told himself the answer. And now?

_Teaching_.

And he pulled back and smashed the book at his harasser's nose.

* * *

Light needed a while to comprehend what he just saw: He was just about to get through the crowd, as Ryuuzaki came insight. He had this thinking-look, the one he got when he blanked out and tried to find a solution to his current problem. And, apparently, he _did_ find a solution. A rather disturbing one.

He looked Ryuuzaki in the eyes as he raised his math book above his head and he was surprised that they were as emotionless as always. And then he did it. The book flew down, a _crack_ was heard and blood suddenly spilled upon Ryuuzaki's bright blue Sweater.

Light flinched and the class turned completely silent. For about one second. Then the panic started, as the children stumbled away from Ryuuzaki as if they had burnt their hands on him and the sobs of pain emitted from the hit boy who was unsteadily brought back to his feet by his friends.

Now Light expected the hurt classmate, whom he recognised as Teko, the class troublemaker, to stand up and hit Ryuuzaki in return (Light had already prepared himself to jump between them), but said boy just stood there a bit dazed, unsure what to do. He held a handkerchief pressed against his bleeding nose, which couldn't cope with the blood stream, though.

"I suggest somebody gets the teacher", Ryuuzaki's calm voice announced. The ones supporting Teko looked at him with badly hidden disgust, which failed to impress the apathetic boy.

And, as the door opened and the teacher reentered, Light found himself thinking the one thing Ryuuzaki didn't seem to grasp yet:

"Oh God, he's in trouble"

* * *

One hour later, things slowly settled down. An ambulance was called, as were Teko's and Ryuuzaki's parents.

Sakura had to stop dead track as she was informed of what had happened, left everything as it was and hurried with a mumbled apology out of the door. Worry was written all over her face as she entered the school, worry not over Ryuuzaki's well-being (she knew the boy could take care of himself), but the consequences he had to face.

At the head teacher's office she found Ryuuzaki already perched up in a chair. As he noticed her, his face relaxed a bit and he gladly accepted the short pat on his head Sakura gave him while sitting down.

The adults introduced themselves, while Ryuuzaki nibbled furiously on his thumb. He didn't seem to pay attention, but overheard every single word spoken. It didn't look good for him, the head teacher was not pleased, to say the least.

The debate went for and back, though both sides refused to acknowledge Ryuuzaki's presence. Ryuuzaki finally thought he at least should have a say in that matter.

"Excuse me?"

Both parts of the conversation stopped abruptly and two eyes averted to the little child who had interrupted them.

"I'd like to justify my actions, if that would be appropriate"

The blue eyes of the head teacher narrowed, but she gave her permission expressed by a nod.

"Very well then. First of all, my actions can be taken as highly necessary self-defense. Said victim of my supposedly violent action was already known as a trouble maker in class, however back then he invaded my personal space and threatened me in the most impudent way. I'd even go so far as to say I was blackmailed in order to spread my knowledge.

Secondly, I did it to prevent further harm caused by that subject. If one teaches him a lesson using physical interference, the effects of learning will be greater and he may even become a respectful member of our class society.

Thirdly, but not less importantly, I thought since life was too busy teaching him a lesson, it was then up to me to take on the role of justice."

The head teacher was stunned, whereas Sakura smiled to herself.

But, unfortunately, it wasn't long until the bickering started again. This time, it was also discussed whether Ryuuzaki should receive private lessons, which Sakura dismissed vehemently, since her son needed the contact to other children, but it was clear that Ryuuzaki's motifs were somewhat understandable. Teko was already well kown for his troublesome behaviour, and lastly, it was decided that there shouldn't be further consequences as long as Ryuuzaki would remain peaceful without causing further turmoil. The teaching methods of Ryuuzaki's and Light's class teacher were also taken into account.

All in all, Ryuuzaki was pleased. He didn't have to apologise, imagine that! And so, everyone got what they earned and justice had prevailed.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, so this was the probably the most unrealistic school system I've ever read about. Every other teacher would have behaved completely differently! But you can always blame it on L's undeniable charm. Right? Right. See you in the next chapter. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, hello there! I'm back!**

**This has a slightly more moderate length, since I don't want to spoil you too much!**

**Sooo...this chapter. Did I say in the last A/N that the crappy explanation for L's name would be in chapter 3? Well, it isn't, hehe. Silly me, it's in this chapter. Hooray. Also hooray for handcuffs, LxLight wouldn't be the same without them. Though I use them in the innocent way- Pervs, I knew what you thought. :D**

**-GenoVera**

**P.S.: Yay, there's a little time leapse in this chap! We're finally moving forward a bit!**

**Disclaimer: I dod not own Death Note or its pervy handcuffs. I own the non-pervy handcuffs, though.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Handcuffs of Doom

Needless to say, not all were satisfied with how the things went, and there was some trouble with Teko's parents, who could fortunately be appeased by Sakura's smooth talking and a lot of her self-made pastries. And Teko's nose looked almost as it did before, if you squinted your eyes and ignored the little hump in it.

And although the class began avoiding Ryuuzaki, the little black-haired genius couldn't be more content. He had a good friend, Light, a loving mother, Sakura, and enough sweets to cover the Mount Everest with it. That meant, maybe _almost_ as many sweets. One sure could get too passionate when it came to that topic.

Light's father however, wasn't pleased at all when he first heard his son befriended a 'rouge', but as the time passed, that feeling passed too. Ryuuzaki was behaving well, beside that incident with Teko. He started playing outside, and Light didn't even have to beg for it!

Soon, the months passed and it was the end of the trimester, which meant certification day for Ryuuzaki and Light. The competition between them hadn't slowed down in the slightest, and as much as Light hated to admit it, Ryuuzaki was still a little bit faster than him. A little bit, really.

And then he held his first certificate in his tiny hands, and it was _perfect_. It only left a bitter taste in Light's mouth that Ryuuzaki's one would be as well.

Speaking of the devil, the pale boy made his way through the excited crowd, heading towards the brunette.

"Content, Light-kun?", he asked with a glimmer in his black eyes.

"Of course, Ryuu"

And he shoved Ryuuzaki the sheet of paper in the face.

Ryuuzaki scanned it and muttered an "Impressive, Light-kun", before Light grabbed his own paper.

As expected, the recently-7-year-old boy's grades were as good as Light's were. There wasn't even one lessons both of them didn't get full points in.

But then Light's eyes stopped as he noticed the thing being written above everything else. There it was, Ryuuzaki's name in thick ink to mark this paper as his property. But what made Light hesitate was the exact wording of his name.

Rue Alan Ryuuzaki

"You have a second name?", Light asked surprised.

Ryuuzaki merely nodded.

"Alan?", Light spelled out loud. Ryuuzaki was amused by the thick Japanese accent Light would pronounce it with. It sounded like 'Eren'.

"It's British, Light-kun. You pronounce it 'Alan'"

Light repeated this with some difficulty, until it sounded decent enough for the perfectionist.

"It's a nice name, Alan. Why did you hide it?"

Light didn't expect the sudden hint of agitation in Ryuuzaki's black orbs.

"I do not like it. Please refrain from calling me such."

And, despite his better judgement, Light was still Light, and as such he simply _had _to take advantage of this revelation. It was just his nature to tease people.

"Is it too long? What about 'Al', then?"

"That sounds stupid. And I do not think abbreviation will make a name more acceptable"

Light smirked evilly.

"Maybe it's just not short _enough_, what do you think? L?"

"L? Just L? You really stooped low there, Light-kun. I do not see the benefits of being called a single letter"

"But it suits you! L is short and mysterious. It's way better than having to call you 'Ryuuzaki' everytime.", Light explained excitedly.

Ryuuzaki rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know four syllables would bother Light-kun that much. Besides, he usually calls me 'Ryuu', anyway."

"And that sounds dumb, like some sort of pet name. L is much better, you have to admit! And easier to write, too!"

"Light-kun's laziness regarding names really knows no bounds. But, as you wish, you may call me 'L'", Ryuuzaki said, determined that the auburn-haired challenger would forget it over the days.

Little did he know, that this name would accompany him longer than anyone had suspected.

* * *

"So, L, wanna accompany me to my house?", Light asked grinning.

Ryuuzaki had to control himself not to roll his eyes again.

"Light-kun really enjoys this, doesn't he?"

"Enjoy _what_, L? I don't know what you mean"

Ryuuzaki sighed. He felt like their roles were magically adversed right now. A feeling he could gladly live without, thank you.

"Alright then. I will accompany you, you pain in the ass"

Light blinked a few times. Ryuuzaki knew the boy wasn't very educated in cursing, since he was raised in a decent household, and he knew as well that this little fact insulted Light more than the insult itself.

Grinning inwardly, he then headed forwards and left the sulking Light-kun trailing behind him.

* * *

"My, Light, I am so proud of you!", Sachiko exclaimed between loud cries emitting from Sayu. The girl had just turned 4 and she wanted to make everyone hear her new singing voice.

Soichiro entered the room, equally eager to take a look at his son's perfect certificate. He had taken himself some free time, since he had started working more often now that his kids were old enough and he had missed his family every minute he did so.

Upon seeing his son's grades, he proudly ruffled his hair and smiled.

"This is great, my son. With those grades you can become practically everything you want."

Light looked at his father with big, shiny eyes.

"I want to be a police officer like you, dad!"

Soichiro beamed upon hearing that. His son would become great, that was sure.

He hugged him tightly and had once again to wonder just _when_ his little Light had become so mature. He would grow up rapidly, Soichiro could tell.

He then turned to Light's friend who just stood there observing the scene with his deep, black eyes. Soichiro has always thought that those eyes were way too serious and wise for a child his age.

"And what do you want to be once you're grown up, Ryuuzaki?"

Ryuuzaki put a finger in his mouth and stared at the ceiling, his typical thinking-pose.

"I want to work in a sweet shop!", he then announced and seemed to be caught in the mental image of being surrounded by sugary goodness everyday.

Soichiro laughed. It was clear to him that both Light and Ryuuzaki would one day get really important jobs who would challenge their intellect. As much as the black-haired boy loved sweets, it wouldn't be ideal for him.

"You can't work in a sweet shop, Ryuuzaki! You would eat all your products before anyone had the chance to buy them!", Light said.

Ryuuzaki pouted. But it was a good sign that Light had finally given up his 'L'-nonsense.

Soichiro left the boys by themselves to help his wife preparing lunch. Ryuuzaki was of course invited, although they knew the sweet-eater would skip the meal and get directly to the dessert.

"So, L, what do you want to do?", Light asked innocently.

"L again? Light-kun sure has poor deciding capabilities"

"I decided that 'L' would be my secret name for you! Just like an undercover agent!"

Ryuuzaki poked Light's forehead.

"So I am the undercover agent and you are my assistant/sweet-provider!"

Light crossed his arms.

"No way! You are the weird guy who sits in front of his computer and gives me instructions and I am the smooth detective who charms everybody and gets important information!"

Ryuuzaki stared blankly at Light.

"Receiving informations through distant research is much more effective than hitting on random people."

"No, it isn't! I would convince everybody to believe me and then I solve many cases!"

"Light-kun is either disenchanted or a prostitute for proposing that"

Light blushed. For once he knew the insult Ryuuzaki used. He had read this word in a crime book and the raven also had a bad influence on him, since his usage of cursing had greatly improved since he'd met Ryuuzaki.

"I'm not a… prostitute" He protested and looked around to make sure his parents didn't hear him.

"So he says", Ryuuzaki deadpanned and received fiery looks from his auburn-haired friend.

Their staring contest was interrupted by Sachiko who announced that the lunch was prepared.

After they were finished eating (Ryuuzaki had eaten close to nothing, except some rice), the boys disappeared in Light's room to watch a detective movie Ryuuzaki had sneaked in. Of course both could identify the murderer long before the movie detective and Ryuuzaki was rather interested in human anatomy whereas Light had to restrain himself from covering his eyes. Unsurprisingly, Light's parents were strictly against their son watching that kind of movies, genius or not.

But what might on earth could possibly stop two genius children determined to get what they want?

* * *

One year passed and the now eight-year old kids grew closer and closer. They understood each other completely, even without words. To overcome their boredom they would solve puzzles or challenge each other during various occasions. The Light-vs-Ryuuzaki-battles had become an awaited show in school and the pupils (and sometimes teachers) watched amusedly as the two bickering youth would fall back again to their friendly displays after the winner was determined. And, of course, the punishment the loser awaited was always worth waiting for. Who knew two little boys could be that creative and equally cruel?

It was a spring day, as Ryuuzaki turned smugly to his friend and wriggled his toes.

"Light-kun?"

"Yes, L?"

The nickname was all but forgotten and Ryuuzaki had become used to it. Furthermore, he enjoyed being called such, since it was something that only occurred during their lone time together.

"An idea just struck me"

Well, regular kids would have turned around and run for their life, since nothing good could await you when an idea popped up in the gigantic mind of the eccentric autistic.

But Light was everything but normal, so he faced his friend and graced him with a mischievous smirk. If it came to something that could release their boredom, Light'd always gladly accept.

"Remember the police uniform your parents gave you for your good grades a few months ago?" He didn't even wait for Light to nod, _of course_ he remembered.

"Let me see it"

Light rummaged a bit in his well-organised dresser, one brow questioningly raised. He reemerged with a box in his hands.

"Hand it to me", Ryuuzaki said and, reading his intentions, Light had the box already placed in his fragile hands.

"Now, where is…", the pale boy mumbled and stopped when he found what he was looking for.

Click.

_Click._

With one swift motion, Ryuuzaki had the handcuff attached to both boy's wrists. It dangled slightly between them and Light stared at it incredulously.

"I dare you not to remove them until tomorrow at exactly 9 PM"

Light still stared, but then snapped back to reality.

"Fine. But you really owe me one if I win"

Ryuuzaki gnawed at his already abused thumb nail.

"Very well, as Light-kun wishes. When I win, however, Light-kun has to…" He paused, whether for dramatic effects or to contemplate his friend's punishment was unbeknown to Light, and continued:

"Shave his head"

"_What_?!", Light exclaimed, forgetting his composure for a second. But, unfortunately, he had already agreed to the bet, which meant by Ryuuzaki's rules that a retreat meant instant loss. Damn him! But he would get him back for that!

"Alright! And when I win (which I will, for sure) you have to put on Sayu's clothes and serve as my maid for one day!"

Ryuuzaki tilted his head.

"That's a rather specific request, Light-kun. But I shall accept"

They confirmed the bet by going through their typical sequence.

"You are so going down, L!"

"I highly doubt it, Light-kun"

Which would usually be followed by smug grinning on Light's part and intense glaring on Ryuuzaki's part.

A perfectly normal day for two underemployed geniuses.

"Okay, honey, what have you two done _this time_?", Sakura asked upon seeing the toy chain dangling between the close friends. Of course, she didn't need to ask, she was perfectly aware of the strange challenges his son and the Yagami kid would perform. However, that reached a new low point.

"Light-kun is going to be bald", came the mysterious response and Sakura's enigmatic son pulled his friend upstairs who glared at the pale boy murderously, she noticed.

Sighing, she sat down on the second-hand couch and pulled up her feet. It was a Saturday, thus she had a bit free time until she would have to start working tomorrow again. It was surprising just how many people would come to her bakery that early in the morning. If Sakura had a free Sunday, she would make sure not to be waken up before noon. The confectioner didn't like Sundays at work at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Ryuuzaki's room, a little fight had ensued.

"What do you mean I cannot take a shower?", an upset Light screamed.

"I didn't say that I would deny Light-kun his shower. I merely said that I won't unchain him for this purpose."

Light scoffed. "So where's the difference? There's no way I'd strip in front of _you_, you pervert!"

"We're eight years old, Light-kun"

"Yeah, and you are probably the first eight-year-old pervert, congrats, L"

"Well, if Light-kun insists, he can still give up. Then he will at least save some time without his whole hair-fixing and fussing"

"I hate you"

Ryuuzaki smiled.

"I like you too, Light-kun"

* * *

"This is terrible"

"Light-kun can still stop"

"Shut up"

"I can see Light-kun's…"

"I said _shut up, L!_"

Ryuuzaki smirked and laid back. The raven was currently seated on the toilet seat, while his caramel-eyed friend stood in the shower, desperately trying to find an angle where L could see the least of him. Desperately and unsuccessfully, that being said.

"At least give me the towel. And _stop looking_!"

"Regaining Light-kun's privates sphere comes for the price of Light-kun's hair", Ryuuzaki rhymed cheerfully.

"That was awful", Light snapped and grabbed the towel his bastard-ish friend gave him.

"You are really trying to make me as uncomfortable as possible, aren't you?", he added after trying to put on his clothes again, which hung on the chain since L refused to unlock them even for two minutes.

"Do I have to sleep in my daily clothes?", he sighed, already knowing the answer.

"Yes"

There it was. Light wished he could make the experience as unpleasant for L as it was for him, but the little autist seemed to be even more relaxed than usually. Almost gleeful, Light realised.

It was nine o' clock and Light had to spend the night at Ryuuzaki's house. Unfortunately, his parents didn't prevent him. They even agreed with him staying there until 9 PM. Dammit.

"Honey? Dinner's ready!", Sakura yelled from below. What kind of mother was she, anyway? Who would allow his insane and eccentric child to break the human rights and force one perfect and presentable individual to shave his head?

Well, apart from the fact that said perfect individual actually agreed to this… irresponsible!

* * *

The dinner was surprisingly good, Light didn't expect the mother of the sweet tooth himself to cook real food. The times he had spend the nights at L's house, it was usually after he had eaten at home due to the fear he would have to eat those diabetes-meals from L.

But, it was neat, nice, normal food. Even Ryuuzaki ate a considerable amount of it and Light understood then that L might not eat as unhealthy as he originally thought. 'I mean, I have seen him only eating sweets so far, even in school. Everybody would come to the same conclusion', he mused.

After the dessert, which was mostly devoured by Ryuuzaki, the boys stayed and watched a movie with Sakura which might not be completely appropriate for children his age. Light shoved the thought of it being a bad influence for Ryuuzaki aside and enjoyed watching it. It's not like this was the first time he'd do this with his friend.

After the movie had ended, Light stretched and looked at his watch (still the one he received from his friend, it was his most precious accessory) and yawned.

"I think it's time to go to bed, don't you think?"

Ryuuzaki gave him a blank look.

"It's only 10 o' clock and we have no reason to go to bed already, Light-kun"

"Well, I'm tired. That's the reason"

"I'm not. Thus, we stay awake"

Light rolled his eyes and yanked on the chain. Ryuuzaki toppled and fell on top of Light. The latter fell on the ground and tried desperately to win the upper hand in this childish fight. But L was much stronger than he looked, so it seemed it would be a truce, until Sakura interfered and disentangled the boys.

"Stop right there, you two!", she exclaimed and her big, friendly eyes were narrowed in a scolding way.

"Ryuuzaki, accompany Light to bed and I don't want to hear a noise from you until tomorrow, do you understand? As much as I appreciate your occasional craziness, I'd like to enjoy the sparse rest of my free day, get it?"

L's head was lowered and he reluctantly scratched his feet.

"…Yes", he then whispered and ran silently towards his room, a slightly gleeful Light behind him. Who knew the stubborn autist was such a mother's child?

* * *

So it came that, minutes later, they laid next to each other in Ryuuzaki's room, the chain not allowing a great distance between them. Light couldn't help but to smirk.

"I'm satisfied"

L didn't bother to respond.

"I know you're not sleeping, L"

Silence. Then:

"That's a remarkable observation, Light-kun. I didn't want to give the impression of sleeping, but of sulking"

"Well, you suck at sulking"

"I figured. I wanted to give it a try anyway. Now, sulking aside, what do we do?"

"Sleeping"

"Light-kun, one cannot spend an entire third of his life sleeping. There are many other things to do", L explained

"And what could we possibly do now? Besides, it's much better when you are well-rested, since you can give your best at all what you're doing. And you look better. It's not a surprise that you have bags under your eyes when you don't sleep"

"I don't have bags", L protested

"Not yet. But you'll get them soon enough"

"I highly doubt that. I momentarily hold the perfect balance between sleep and being awake. And Light-kun overdoes it for the sake of his beauty"

"You can't overdo sleep, you cretin"

"Yes, you can, wannabe-sleeping-beauty"

"Monkey"

"Wench"

"Slob"

"Priss"

"_Just stop and sleep already!_", a female voice came from downstairs. Both children instantly grew silent.

"Alright, we're sleeping", Light muttered

"Agreed", L added.

And soon, both boys closed their eyes and slid into the land of sleep.

* * *

"Light-kun"

"Light-kun?"

"Light-kun!"

Light slowly awoke from a terribly disturbing and –what surprise- somehow familiar voice. It took some time for him to realise his current situation, but when it finally hit him he abruptly sat up and turned to the origin of the sleep-disrupting thing next to him.

"What the hell do you want, L?"

"Ah, it's nice that Light-kun has finally awaken", came the cheerful reply. "I need him to accompany me to the kitchen. I'm hungry"

"You are… what? What's the clock?"

"It's currently… 3:48"

Light groaned loudly and sank back in the pillows.

"Nobody needs to eat at this time. Go back to sleep."

When Light heard nothing but silence, he smirked to himself in triumph. Seems like the little glutton had some common sense left after all. That was, until a sudden yank on the chain made him fly out of the bed and made his butt collide with the ground.

"_Goddamn it, L!_", the still sleepy boy complained as he rubbed his throbbing backside.

L only sniffed once and replied: "I thought Light-kun would appreciate it if I'd wake him up before relying on such drastic measures. But now it seems my kindness was misplaced"

"Kindness _my ass_. Literally. I think my ass is broken"

"Don't be a drama queen, Light-kun. And please refrain from making that much noise, some people in this household need a healthy amount of sleep"

"Yes, _me_ for example! Oh God, what am I doing with my life?"

L ignored him and began tapping around in the darkness, stubbornly ignoring the occasional sounds of Light bumping against furniture.

At last they were in the kitchen and L went straightly toward the fridge, taking a piece of strawberry shortcake and munching it happily. Still in the darkness.

"This has to be one of the most awkward excursions of all time. I mean, _really_?! Why do you even have to eat at this godforsaken hour!", Light ranted.

Ryuuzaki, now being supplied with sugar, kept his cool.

"Fast metabolism, Light-kun. I think I already mentioned it once or twice"

"Yeah, like nobody could figure that one out, with the ludicrous amount of food you eat and still look like a stick"

"I do not look like a stick, Light-kun"

Light sighed.

"Well, maybe not. But you are too fragile for your age. You are eight years old and got the body structure of a six year old."

"And the intellectual capabilities of a 25-year-old", Ryuuzaki added and was about to devour the second slice of the cake, as the light suddenly went on and he freezed like a deer in the headlight.

In the door stood a tired-looking Rue Sakura who rubbed her eyes and wore nothing but a soft pink nightdress.

"Honey? What are you doing here…?"

She looked around and understanding seemed to dawn as her gaze sharpened.

"Oh, don't tell me you're on one of your food raids again! Do you know that I get a fucking heart attack every time because I think there are burglars in our house?"

Light took a moment to memorise just exactly where L's occasional foul mouth came from and averted his attention back to the angel who came upon earth to save his sleep-deprived ass. Namely, L's mom.

Said woman shushed her son back in his room at this moment, still muttering something about how fed up she was and that she slowly lost track about how often things like that tended to happen and then finally the two boys were back to bed, Light satisfied because he could return to the land of sleep and Ryuuzaki satisfied because his mother in her rage forgot to take his cake away.

So it came that Light fell asleep to the sound of slow munching and crunching and for once in his life he didn't care about the crumbs who would eventually fall between the sheets, but just enjoyed the comfy warmth of the bed.

* * *

**A/N: Aaaand, we're out! So, next chapter the winner will be revealed (It's even already written, but feel free to guess anyhow!).**

**I hope I'll find time to update soon, since my exams are coming up :/**

**See you in the next chap! And as always thanks to everybody who supported me writing this fanfiction! You're awesome!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey there!**

**Yay, chapter 5! So, what do we have? A little bit of L's past, some dialogue and... the great solution of their bet! But you could've easily figured that one out by looking at the title. Some cheesiness, some cuteness, some seriousness... nothing you haven't been confronted with before. **

**Enjoy this chapter and thanks to everyone who reads this! Also I always like the speculations you make, they're really interesting to read.**

**And to -chan: Yes, they'll definitively be more than friends, but I am really taking my time here. It'll probably start when they're teenagers, 16 or 17 maybe. I haven't decided yet. If it started now, it'd be kinda creepy o_o**

**-See you all next chapter (yes, yes, I'm going to leave now so you can read *hides in a corner*), GenoVera**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Great Solution

The next morning, Light woke up to find himself sprawled all over the bed. He blinked his eyes and sat up. The messy room was enlightened by the morning sun and Light rubbed his eyes exposed to the light. Then he noticed something strange. Shouldn't there be a certain dark-haired annoyance greeting him? He looked down at his wrist. Yes, the chain was still attached. So, where…?

His question was answered when his gaze followed the chain. It ended somewhere beneath the bed. The little boy crawled to the edge and looked down. There he saw a rolled-up bundle of bones and hair, which slowly rose and faltered with every breath taken. It reminded Light of the kitten that would stray around the neighborhood.

"L?"

Light poked the human ball once. It didn't stir. The problem was, although Light technically _could_ let the nuisance lay there on the dusty floor, he was a morning person, regardless of how the night may have been. Besides, he strongly disliked staying in bed when he was awake. He usually would stand up and get things done. And it would be nice to take a shower, actually. He felt like being contaminated by this filthy room.

But, it dawned Light, this was actually the perfect opportunity to repay the little bastard. So he took a firm grip on the chain and yanked heavily on it. Unfortunately, though, it hadn't the desired effect since something _unyielding_ on the other end of the chain made Light's affords end in vain and, furthermore, he ended up hurting his arm.

Still not quite comprehending what had happened, but hissing in pain, Light examined his arm further. That was, until a head popped up over the bed's edge. Two all-too familiar coal-like eyes met Light and the auburn-haired boy could see the glint in them. If the fact that the creep hadn't been asleep wasn't enough an indicator for him being responsible for Light's pain, the soft glint in his eyes very well _was_.

"L, what…?", Light sneered between his teeth.

L's expression didn't change as he raised his arm for Light to see. There was no chain on his wrist.

Understanding overcame Light and he peeped across the bed. There was the chain , not attached to the freak's wrist, but to the _bedpost_! Light opened his mouth as to say something, but found himself utterly speechless. How _dare he_?

"You know that's cheating, right?"

"No. The terms only specified _you _not removing the chains until today's 9 'o clock"

"You bastard _do_ realise that this damn _hurts_?"

"Yes. We should let it have examined by a doctor to prevent further damage"

"And of course I would have to take the chain off, isn't that convenient for you? How sick _are_ you, actually? Winning by physically hurting me? That's low.", Light snapped, annoyed by both the pain in his arm, Ryuuzaki's satisfied half-smile and the fact that he even had _fallen _for the trap in the first place.

"Now, Light-kun, stop making such a fuss. I do not recall ever saying I was playing fair."

Light grumbled, but patiently waited for L to unlock the cuffs and re-attach them on his own wrist.

"There. Shall we go downstairs now and fetch something to eat?" he said as if trying to appease Light. Unfortunately, his voice didn't sound appeasing at all.

"No freakin' way. I'm going to take a shower first"

L tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow. He'd make a good bird, with him being the typical portrayal of a curious sparrow. And twice as annoying in the morning.

"Light-kun took a shower yesterday"

"And you _didn't_. Observations aside, can I go now?"

Light expected L to make a scene, but to his surprise the pale boy merely shrugged and trailed towards the desires destination.

Light stripped his clothes (still the same as yesterday, he noticed moodily) and stepped into the shower.

"I wonder…", L started, his thin finger placed upon his bottom lip.

Light ignored him stubbornly and instead focused on washing his wonderful hair. Which wouldn't be taken away by the little nutcase, for the record.

"Light-kun's sanitary needs are far more distinct than I thought…"

Light sighed and continued ignoring him.

"Or maybe Light-kun really enjoys getting naked in front of me?"

That did it. Light's bad temper showed and he threw the shower curtain aside.

"What the hell? You are such a pervert, L!"

L averted his gaze from the ceiling to his friend.

"Oh? But isn't it Light-kun who constantly presents his body to me?"

Light looked down at his uncovered body and quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.

"I'm not… _presenting _my body to you. Pervert. Maybe you're just watching too intensively?"

"I most certainly do not. It is not my fault that Light-kun is constantly hovering within the range of my peripheral vision."

"It is. Remember?"

Light jingled the chain demonstratively.

"Light-kun agreed to the terms."

"And Light-kun is going to win, you wannabe-voyeur"

"We'll see about that. Now, shall we go and get breakfast?"

Light sighed again and rolled his eyes.

"Sure, why not"

* * *

The morning passed without any complications on Light's side. He was, in fact, overly positive that he would be victorious. The arm didn't hurt anymore and L, although annoying as hell, at least proved to be an interesting distraction. Which was one of the reasons he was his only true friend, after all.

They'd spent noon in L's room, sitting and debating current scientific topics, for they _were_ geniuses despite their sporadic childishness, and Light found himself occupied to the extent that he actually forgot about the handcuffs. L surprisingly behaved well, at least for his standards, and Light, although he observed him thoroughly, couldn't find any signs that the oddball had planned anything.

It only started when Light made a request.

"So, can we go outside?"

"No", came the short answer. L didn't even look up from the book he was reading.

"That's it? We're gonna spend the rest of the day inside?"

L raised his left hand.

"Would you want to be spotted with these?"

"My, we're kids after all. People will dismiss it. By the way, I was only talking about the park around the corner. No big deal. Does it bother you?"

"Light-kun should have noticed by now that I don't give a damn about other people's opinion about me. I was merely worried for Light-kun's reputation"

"As if. So, we're going outside or what?"

"No"

Light massaged his forehead.

"You can't just stay inside all day! That's unhealthy. No wonder you're as pale as death"

"I can. And I will. The same applies to you, Light-kun, if you have any interest in winning this bet"

Light stood up angrily and decided to go on an exploration tour through L's room instead. His radius of free movement wasn't the greatest, but it was enough to reach the nightstand and a cupboard.

L completely ignored him, even as he began rummaging in his personal stuff. Not that it surprised Light. L seemed to be a contradictory mixture of pure openness and secretiveness at the same time.

Light searched through the cupboard first, not finding anything of interest except a few books he'd like to borrow sometime, and instead turned towards the nightstand.

It was scattered with sweet wrappers and notes, like the rest of the room. He pulled the drawer. It was locked. How odd. Light never considered L to be the person to lock anything away.

Convinced that L had noticed his actions anyway, he turned to him.

"Is there a key?"

L didn't show any signs of being offensed by Light's bluntness but merely murmured:

"Under the mattress"

He didn't even raise his head now, Light mused. Meaning in the drawer had to be something precious enough to be locked away but not private enough to be kept from Light.

He quickly heaved the mattress, grabbed the key and opened the drawer.

His face fell in disappointment. There was only a box of expensive looking chocolate in it. Light shook it. It was empty. He examined the drawer more thoroughly, but couldn't find anything else.

It would make sense for the wandering sweet-tooth to hide chocolate in a locked drawer, but…

"Is there a fake bottom?", Light asked and inspected it closer. The wood on the ground of the drawer looked slightly smoother in comparison to the rest.

"Congrats, Light-kun. There indeed is a fake bottom. I must advise you, though, not to prey it open. It probably wouldn't work, anyway"

Light was now incredibly interested. Not only did L hide something in a _locked drawer_, but in a _locked drawer with a fake bottom_ on top of that.

He quickly figured out how to open it, there was a small hole on the bottom where Light inserted a small pen. The fake bottom was heaved and the curious boy took a look at its secrets, whereas L still stayed passive as ever.

He wasn't disappointed. Several photos laid beneath the wooden panel and Light fished them all out. L didn't object, so he spread them on the ground and examined them. It soon became clear to Light that these were photos of L's family and the boy himself. One showed a pale man with a long, small nose and brown hear standing next to a woman with a slightly more usual complexion and familiar black hair. No doubt, it was an even younger version of Rue Sakura and her… boyfriend? Light didn't know if they were married, they seemed to be too young, hardly mature. What became clear though, was that the pale man was obviously L's father. It seemed like the autistic had inherited the skin colour and the nose of his father and the hair, eyes, lips and body shape of his mother. It was interesting for Light to see different body trades being combined in one person that obviously. Light himself didn't look like his parents at all, which brought up some rumors in his neighborhood that he was adopted. Which wasn't true, since he actually came after his grandmother, who had a similar hair- and eyecolour than he did. Only the freckles seemed to have sprout out of nowhere, although Light was adept in Mendel's doctrine and knew about recessive and dominant genes.

Light snapped back into reality and took another photo into his hand. This one showed a pregnant Sakura who didn't seem to be much older on this picture than on the other one he'd seen, but the man had slightly more defined facial features. It was apparent that time had passed between those two records.

The third one showed Sakura laying in a hospital bed, wearing the typical nightgown, and holding a tiny bundle in her arms. Light couldn't recognize any details, but it had to be Baby-L. The man he'd seen before crouched next to them, smiling proudly at the baby. Both new-born parents wore a aura of bliss around them, despite their slightly crumpled appearance.

Then, there was the last photo. Only L and Sakura, sitting on a chair in front of a gray background. It was apparently taken in a photo studio. L didn't look much younger than he did when he moved to Japan, and caused probably one of the biggest changes in Light's whole damned _life,_ and of course the genius boy noticed the absence of the pale man.

Now, Light knew that L's parents were divorced, but he had never bothered to ask about L's father or the reason for the divorce. He'd simply assumed that it was because of their age, Sakura had just seemed to be too young and inexperienced to build a relationship for a life-time when Light first saw her across the street. But now he wondered…

"My mother dumped my father when I was five, Light-kun"

Light's head snapped backwards and he gazed at the now eight-year-old version of the boy he'd seen on the photos.

"How so?", Light asked after regaining his composure, intent on taking advantage of L's sudden talkin' mood.

"My father was feeling uneasy about my illness", he stated matter-of-factly and lazily snipped the photo showing him as a baby across the room.

Light tilted his head, waiting for further explanations, and, as nothing came, he asked:

"In what ways?"

"He wanted a normal son. One that would look at him when being talked to, one that would laugh at him when being played with and one that would learn when being taught a lesson"

Light smirked.

"So the great L did not let himself teach a lesson even back then?"

"I _do_ let myself being taught a lesson every once in a while. By _life_. Not by my father. That was probably the biggest problem he'd had with me: I didn't look up to him. Not a bit."

"You don't…? And your mother?"

"I respect her. In different ways than my father wanted to be respected. Simply because she doesn't _expect_ such a thing from me. She doesn't want a reward of me being raised by her. And she doesn't make the stupid assumption that I, as the younger one, am the one inferior to the older one. In fact, I think honest relationships can only be based on equality. Otherwise one has to meet expectations he cannot possibly fulfill and the other one has to hide his true capabilities in order to preserve a balance. It's a masquerade, where two individuals are imprisoned by the desire to be close but being hindered by the discrepancies between them."

Light nodded once. He had considered this once as well.

"My mother and I do not seem to be equal on the surface. But it's our undisguised interaction that makes this work. It wouldn't have gone well with my father, anyway"

"Sooo, you are the reason your parents separated?"

L averted his gaze on Light. Both knew that this statement only supported L's theory. With which human on this earth could you have the rawest and yet most honest interaction of them all? Only with your equal. And thus it came that L wasn't even slightly disturbed, despite the fact that Light could have hurt any other person deeply with that question.

"I was, metaphorically speaking, only one of many nails in the coffin of their romantic affair. The fact that my father cheated on my mother with her colleague and impregnated her, was the last"

If Light had drank something right then, he probably would have spilled it out like they always did in comics and his cinnamon eyes widened remarkably, so that they almost resembled L's.

"Wha…? So you mean… You've got a half-brother?"

L examined his fingernails indifferently.

"Yes. Nate River. Though I am not in contact with him. In fact, I do possess none information regarding my father and his… lover."

Light nodded once.

L eyed Light.

"Anything else you'd like to know?"

Light shook his head. These were enough information for one morning.

"Alright. Now, let us go into the kitchen"

Light groaned. "Again? Just how much junk food do you eat, you glutton?"

L tilted his head and motioned his fingers, as if seriously contemplating the question.

"Geez, I didn't mean this literally. You can stop counting"

L pouted.

"It's not nice to interrupt mathematical calculations"

"It's not nice to chain random persons to oneself, either"

"But Light is not a 'random person'.", L said and nibbled his thumb. "I recall telling Light-kun that he's my very first friend"

L's head was tilted downwards and his eyes were big and round. Light scoffed and ruffled L's already disheveled hair. The raven-haired made a little squeaking sound which encouraged Light even more.

"Light-kun! Light-kun, stop!", the now giggling boy yelled when Light was intensifying his ruffling.

"Or what? I'll ruin your hairstyle?", Light mocked and watched as the sensitive child went down when the auburn haired boy started tickling his stomach; and curled to a laughing bundle on the ground.

Light noticed that L's eyes were firmly shut and he had both of his tiny hands pressed to his mouth. His cheeks were tainted pink as he tried to suppress his laughter

Light waited as his ticklish friend regained control and stopped breathing irregularly.

"That wasn't nice. And it won't help Light-kun to win, either.", L accused once again as he slowly stood up, still a bit wobbly.

"You asked for it. Now let's get you some cake before you start collapsing"

The thought of cake seemed to appease L and he willingly followed Light downstairs.

* * *

Light watched L destroying his treat brutally and after he refused L's offer to get some cake as well (the sugar-addict must have _really _liked Light to share his cake), they returned to the 'bat cave' that was L's room and spent their time reading and scheming (i.a. world domination and takeover of international sweet stockings) and that went actually smoothly.

Then it was already eight o' clock and Light suddenly felt very secure. And this sensation of security made him feel wary all of a sudden.

"L?"

"Mhhh?"

Light eyed the other boy suspiciously. What had he planned? It was obvious that he had planned something, since he'd never lose a bet on own accord.

"Light-kun? My attention and I have the sudden urge to get back to reading"

"Tell your attention that I only wanted to know if your mother's always working that late", Light improvised upon realising that he had to say _something_.

"My attention congrats Light-kun's own attention for his observational skills and informs him that she indeed works almost the whole day. That's why I usually visit her during lunch break"

"Oh. We could have done this today as well, you know? I mean, if your time together is that rare…"

"Ah, there's no need for Light-kun to have a bad conscience. Mommy's also used to my erratic visits."

"Oh"

Light remained silent for a while. He contemplated whether it was a good idea to confront L with his inactivity or not. He glanced at the clock. 8:07. Even if L started some kind of action right now, Light was positive he could put up with it for less than one hour.

"Sooo, L, I was wondering…" Light began and L looked up at the smug sound of Light's voice.

"Would you like to wear a pink dress or a white dress?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you don't even have one hour left and I conclude that you either have something up your sleeve which I propose to be set into motion _now_ or you are genuinely looking forward to be stuck in a dress which would be, albeit somehow fitting, slightly worrying."

"I have neither a plan that has yet to be set in motion nor am I a secret admirer of crossdressing. I merely thought it unfair to alter my daily routine only to ensure Light-kun's defeat. If he can cope with me doing my usual activities, it proves his willpower sufficiently."

"Usual activities? Eating and sitting inside?"

"'Sitting inside' including various activities, but yes, fundamentally Light-kun is right. Add basic human needs such as visiting the bathroom or drinking and that's it"

"No meeting people? Playing outside? Doing sports?"

"Not without Light-kun's impact, no"

Light furrowed his brows and silently vowed to himself to get L doing more outside stuff. Maybe a nice sport. Football maybe, or Tennis. Actually Tennis would fit better since L refused to put on shoes.

L inwardly beamed. Whatever Light-kun was planning right now would make great material for yet another bet. Certainly those physical activities couldn't be that bad if you filled your incapabilities with strategical skills.

* * *

Finally, finally it was 9 o' clock. Although it was not that bad as Light had originally expected it to be, it came nevertheless to a great relief that those cheap handcuffs would be removed. Light really needed some freedom, especially regarding sanctuary needs.

"So, it's nine. I've won, L"

L glanced at his clock, seemingly unaffected. Though Light was sure that the little bullhead had to be furious. He hated losing, after all.

"Are you really sure you want to have the handcuffs removed, Light?", L asked and cocked his head.

"Are you suggesting I'm enjoying this? Well, forget it, you pervert. Now stop being a sore loser and get me out of this"

"Very well, as Light-kun wishes"

With a little _clack_ the handcuff around Light's wrist opened and he stretched it a little bit. Fortunately, there weren't any marks on his wrist.

He glanced at L to see him sliding out of the closed handcuffs with ease (thanks to his bony hand structure) and letting them fall to the ground.

"Alright, I won!", Light exclaimed and now the pure triumph about his victory filled his veins.

"Mmmmh. Well, about that…"

"Oh, no, don't tell me you'll back down now! I've clearly won and you get to wear a dress!"

"I'm afraid I don't, Light-kun"

L rummaged in one of his back pockets and finally pulled out a clock. He tossed it over to Light. Said boy glanced at it. It read eight o' clock.

"What? What are you trying to say, L?"

Light's eyes widened when L responded with an uncharacteristically wicked smile.

Realisation suddenly dawned him.

"_No_…", he whispered. Not going out all day, L being an insomniac, his handcuffs chained to the bedpost, no mean schemes… '_Are you really sure you want the handcuffs removed, Light-kun?'_.

"No. No, you didn't"

"Oh, Light-kun, I never claimed I'd play fair"

Damn him. _Damn him!_

"The whole fucking time?", Light hissed.

L nodded.

"Since today's morning"

So the little bastard really _had_ altered every single clock in the house, including his own watch, making him think it was an hour later than it actually was. The rules only said that he'd lose if he removed the handcuffs before nine. Which he just did. Totally not on purpose. He'd have to shave his head. Fuck. Light; in this moment; did the only thing he thought would serve justice. He tackled the little asshole and they both crashed to the ground.

* * *

Sakura glanced at her watch. It was due nine, she was late. She only hoped her Sweetie and the Yagami-kid were okay. She sighed. Sometimes she really wondered what went on inside that genius head of Ryuuzaki. She didn't even dare to ask herself the question 'What could possibly go wrong?'. It would definitely prove no good to let her imagination run wild now.

She entered the house. It was fine, over eight years of raising the kid have prepared her thoroughly. Or so she thought. But she doubted anything could have ever prepared her for the sight that presented itself to her when she entered the kitchen.

The kitchen was a mess. There were shuttered plates everywhere and furniture was shifted unceremoniously.

"What the hell happened here?", Sakura mumbled and set her bag on the (once clean) table.

She turned around and made her way up the stairs.

"Boys? Are you alright?", she yelled. No answer.

Now exceedingly worried, Sakura began pacing and soon reached her little son's door.

Not bothering to knock, she busted right into the room, ready for the worst scenario. Namely, the complete destruction of one fully equipped room combined with the downfall of an entire civilisation. More or less.

She stopped mid-motion when she found the room not much messier than before (though you couldn't really tell whether they had fought or not, Ryuuzaki's room looked like a battlefield in general) and the two boys in question sitting on the bed united peacefully. If you ignored the tense silence and the fact that Light sent daggers towards Ryuuzaki with his eyes, at least. Though Sakura couldn't really blame him, since on second glance, the once-auburn-haired head of him was now graced with a general lack of anything hair-like whatsoever.

Ryuuzaki on the other hand was sitting quite smugly in the self-induced aura of his victory. He had obviously decided to ignore the bald boy sitting next to him, since Light's glances should usually be enough to melt even Ryuuzaki's beloved ice cream from one mile away.

Ryuuzaki, however, looked up to her and she could immediately see his 'I'm-so-innocent-you-have-no-idea'-expression he always wore when he was everything but.

"Greetings, mother", he said in his indifferent voice.

"Greetings, son", she mimicked in a robotic voice of her own and her son raised a hardly-existent eyebrow at that.

"Hello as well", Light murmured in a pretty miserable voice. Sakura flashed him a smile, trying to look reassuring.

Then she crossed her arms and adopted her authoritative pose. Also called the infamous 'I'm-so-close-to-restrict-all-your-sweets-for-long er-than-it-will-please-you'-Pose. At least Ryuuzaki had named it once like that.

"So, what happened here?"

Ryuuzaki's innocent expression faded, replaced by an incredibly arrogant smile, also called… Oh no, wait, that was actually new. Ryuuzaki had never really celebrated his victories so openly. Light was obviously a bad influence. But what could you expect from someone who shaved his head?

"I won", Ryuuzaki announced, as if those two words would explain the utterly destroyed kitchen and the moping boy sitting next to him. Well, if you thought about it, it actually kinda did.

"He cheated", Light added, rubbing his own head with a desperate look on his face.

"Outsmarting you does by no means equal 'cheating', Light-kun", Ryuuzaki said, still smiling crookedly to himself.

"Aaaand… as a celebration you decided to take the kitchen apart?"

"No, that was Light-kun. He decided to attack me after being defeated that evidently. He broke my lamp"

"Oh?! You broke my faith in sincerity! And my flawless looks, thank you very much!"

"Light-kun should stop being that prissy. It doesn't fit his new tough look", Ryuuzaki said and probably had to bring all his self-control up for not starting to snicker shamelessly.

"Alright! Stop now, both of you!", Sakura said when she noticed Light's murderous expression. She took a deep breath.

"Okay, Light lost a bet, because you… tricked. I get it. Then he attacked you. Still fine with me. But you were here the whole time, why the kitchen?"

Ryuuzaki looked at her with round eyes. Ah, there was the innocent look again. Suited him better anyway.

"Well, I needed a cake-break"

Sakura massaged the temple of her nose.

"A cake-break…"

Ryuuzaki nodded eagerly. Then he bit on his thumb and mumbled:

"But Light-kun didn't quite agree with my plans of taking a little time-out"

"You were running away mid-fight!", Light complained.

"And planning on returning, Light-kun."

Sakura closed her eyes.

"Okay… Are you two at least unharmed?"

Ryuuzaki nodded. Light muttered a "physically yes, mentally somewhere between tantrum and breakdown". That was good enough for Sakura.

Now she had to deal with the aftermath of the little sadist's challenge. Which would be, of course, explaining everything to Light's parents.

She turned to the boy in question.

"Are you sure nothing's broken? Are your clothes intact?"

Light's frightening sharp eyes fixated her.

"I'm fine. I won't tell my parents either. Although some of us don't know how to behave honorably" –sight glance to Ryuuzaki- "_I_ at least know how to lose in honor."

Sakura relaxed.

"I'm really glad you two are uninjured", she admitted and then helped Light gather his things, offered him dinner which he refused, and watched him walking towards his home with the sun sinking in the distance. At least it wasn't reflecting on his bald head, that would be really disgraceful.

She turned to his devilish son.

"And I think we two have a lot of cleaning-up to do"

* * *

Ryuuzaki's sulking face wasn't enough compensation for the mess he'd fabricated within 24 hours, though it was pretty close. Sakura had to be content with that.

Both mother and son spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house; especially emptying the sink full of Light's hair (well done, Ryuuzaki) and repairing things as well as they could; then let it end with eating ice cream in the little overgrown garden. With the stress all gone, Sakura folded her arm around Ryuuzaki and pulled him closer, feeling him snuggling against her chest. They sat there like this and watched as the stars slowly appeared on the night sky until Sakura noticed that her little bundle had fallen asleep in this position. She carried him inside and placed him on the bed, kissing his forehead goodnight.

It maybe might not be the most pedagogical thing to do after all the trouble he'd caused, but upon seeing the little (and absolutely _not_ smug) smile on her son's face, she knew it was at least the solution that made her heart warm the most.

* * *

**A/N: Yessss, another absolutely sappy chapter ending! And I apologise to everyone who hoped that Light was going to win, I just thought that Light with his fair play didn't stand a chance against L's slyness. But don't worry, this won't be the last time they challenged each other (little competitive bullheads they are). :D**

**P.S.: I as well appreciate any suggestions you'd like to make regarding what they could do (thanks to Seishirou Hitsugaya, I would like to see them visiting the zoo as well; though it can take a long time until they really do this, there's still so much for them to do)**

**-GenoVera**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello, here I am again!**

**This chapter took a while since it is a little bit different from the others. We're slowly getting into the section of character-development, oh my gosh. And this one was re-written various times, so I hope you don't mind this new direction we're going.**

**Apart from that, it is more like a little foreboding regarding the next big event. And mentions of Mello, Matt and Watari. Yaay. Also, more bitching from Yagami senior. I'm sorry, is anybody else getting tired of this shit? **

**Anywayyyy, enjoy!**

**-GenoVera**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. And I also do not own Light's hair (but neither does he anymore , muhaha...ha...ha...okay, I'll shut up)**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Blooming Cherry Blossom

Two month later:

"We need more excitement", L mused and nibbled at his thumb. Light glared at him from his position on the swing set.

"Yeah, as if we didn't do a whole bunch of ridiculous bets already.", Light grumbled and ruffled his short hair. At least he wasn't bald anymore.

"That was two months ago. Does Light-kun not feel the urge to undergo this kind of thrill again?"

"No. My hair isn't even fully grown back and you want me to repeat something like this?"

L smiled slightly.

"I was not aware that Light-kun's aesthetic feeling was disrupted that deeply. Though it went relatively well apart from that, don't you think?", L said and formed a little sandhill with one of his hands.

Light jumped from the swing set he had been sitting on until now and stomped over to L, who was crouching in the sandbox.

"_Relatively well?_", he exclaimed, "I was _grounded_ for two weeks and we had to buy a wig! My parents even forbid me to see you until now!"

"Such peaceful times", L sighed and glanced over to his mom who was sitting on a bench with Light's family.

Light generously overheard this comment. They sat next to each other and the short haired boy silently watched L as he stuck a green leaf in the pathetic hillock of his.

"Speaking of my aesthetic feeling, _this_ really disrupts it."

L put on a sulking face.

"How very mean of you, Light-kun"

Light sighed and looked his oh-so-dear friend in the big, round eyes.

"Here, let me help you", he finally said and got down on his knees (L should better appreciate the dirty marks on his trousers) to help the raven with his… sand blob…whatever that was.

* * *

Sakura observed this little exchange of friendliness and secretly thanked Light for this. When it came to apologises, Ryuuzaki really sucked. Though it was clear to both Light and her that Ryuuzaki was indeed grateful that his friend overcame possible hard feelings that quickly, also he didn't show it.

She herself had had a hard time appeasing Light's parents, especially his father, though it had gotten better by now.

Sakura was then distracted by Sayu, who had finished eating her piece of cake Sakura had brought with her (cake as bribery always worked, that she knew from experience) and was now pulling Sachiko's sleeve.

"I wanna go play with big brother!", she demanded, being used to having Light around after the last two month, since her brother had no other choice as to be content with her as a playmate. At least until his parent's wrath would fade and he could meet L again.

Sachiko petted her head and smiled reassuringly.

"Why don't you go over then and ask the boys if you can join them? I am sure they will welcome you"

Sayu looked down to her feet and drew little circles in the gravel.

"Don' wanna", she mumbled, hardly audibly.

"Why not, darling?", Sachiko asked, her voice calm.

Sayu still inspected the gravel of distraction and refused to answer. Sachiko took her hand.

"Shall I go with you, then?"

The little girl nodded fiercely which made her pigtails jump up and down.

"Fine."

Sachiko still wore her motherly smile, which was in many ways similar to Sakura's, and accompanied her daughter to the two boys in the sand box who were discussing something while building a sandcastle together.

Now it was just Sakura and Soichiro sitting on the table on that nice Sunday afternoon. Sakura felt an uneasiness developing in her stomach. Maybe cake would help.

Just as she was about to devour a spoonful of her sugary goodness, Soichiro cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Our boys are playing well together, don't they?"

Sakura nodded, slightly alarmed about just were this would be going.

Light's father straightened his back slightly.

"Let me make this clear, I do not have any intentions to forbid their friendship for I know exactly how good it is for my son to have somebody intellectually equal. But as far as this goes, I cannot help but notice that Ryuuzaki is also a bad influence on my son"

Sakura raised one eyebrow but remained silent.

"And I can also understand how difficult it has to be for a young single mother to raise an intelligent child as yours, but I'd nevertheless like to ask you not to spoil your child too much and let him dwell in this dreamworld of his too long, for children need rules and also social norms.

To sum it up, I won't accept the usual kind of behaviour from your son under my supervision. That way, we both can gain something from the friendship our sons have developed"

Soichiro looked at Sakura expectantly, who was still a little dumbstruck. Did Yagami Senior just suggest that she sucked at raising her child properly? And that she should let this man influence her son since he was _spoiled?_ That was really one way to ruin the cosy atmosphere of one trip to the park on a Sunday.

Sakura put away her spoon. The cake atmosphere was utterly ruined as well.

Before she could even open her mouth to reply, her attention was drawn away by raised child's voices.

She turned her head and looked at the scene in the sandbox. She then immediately stood up and rushed to the three children who were, more or less, yelling at each other.

"What happened?", she asked, noticing her son sitting in a curled pose, not exposing his face.

"They had an argument", Sachiko said, sounding strained.

"Sayu kicked sand in Ryuuzaki's eyes!", Light accused his younger sister, who instantly defended herself.

"_He _started it!", she screamed and pointed at Ryuuzaki who was still not moving nor speaking.

"No, _you _started it by provoking him!", Light retorted, a furious glint in his eyes.

"Why are you defending him?", Sayu asked desperately, feeling tears streaming down her face. "You should be on _my _side. He isn't even part of the family!", she screamed, now hiding her wet face as well.

"Well, I wish he _was_. He'd be much better as a sibling.", Light hissed.

Though the moment he saw his sister's appalled eyes peeking through her hands, he knew he'd gone too far. One moment later, Sayu was reduced to a whimpering, sobbing mass on the ground and it seemed that not even Light could calm her down.

Finally, Sachiko took her in her arms and hushed her as best as she could. Seeing that his sister was now receptive again, he got down in front of her.

"Sayu, I'm sorry. You are my little sister and I'll always care for you, alright?"

Sayu sniffed and stared at her brother with big, brown eyes. Then she nodded and smiled vaguely at Light. Light returned the smile and petted her head, mimicking his mother's former action.

Meanwhile, Sakura had still a hard time helping Ryuuzaki. The boy just sat there compact and ready for delivery and completely unresponsive.

"Ryuu, come now. We have to wash the sand out of your eyes"

Ryuuzaki shook his head, not removing the pale hands from his face.

"Don't be unreasonable. It will only get worse if we don't remove the sand now"

Ryuuzaki mumbled something in his hands.

"Honey, nobody could understand that."

"I said, my bodily liquids will wash the foreign bodies out eventually"

"And _I_ will wash them out right away. Now stand up and take away your hands"

At this moment Light walked over to see what the problem was, intending to help his friend.

"What's wrong?", he asked Sakura, who sighed in response.

"He refuses to let me rinse his eyes."

Light nodded and got down on his knees (again).

"L, seriously, let us help you. You are being a wimp and if you don't stand up right now, I will find a way to get you in one of Sayu's dresses"

L grumbled.

"Mom, I hear annoying people", he muttered. Light rolled his eyes.

"And I see stubborn persons. Now get up and we'll get you cake"

Sakura gazed at the boys. Did they just quote a horror movie? Maybe she _should _pay a little more attention to their pastime after all.

"Only if Light-kun pays."

Light looked at Sakura who shrugged. She would definitely repay him later.

"Alright, I pay for your stupid cake."

"Strawberry cake"

"If you insist, princess"

L, now seemingly content, rubbed his eyes with the sleeves one more time and stood up. He blinked and then looked at his friend.

"Such a coincidence. It looks like my injury mysteriously healed just now. Thank you for your patience"

Light then probably would have tackled the bastard, but L still had tears on his face, making him look too much like Sayu with his big eyes. And Light didn't hit girls as a matter of principle. Later, he could always say that L looked like a girl which certainly would be enough to restore his self-confidence.

Ryuuzaki took his mother's hand and led her towards the now abandoned table.

"Let's go, mummy. I think there's still cake left to eat"

* * *

The rest of the day was surprisingly very nice, apart from Light occasionally sending death glares in L's way and Sayu ignoring said boy completely, giving him an excuse to steal her piece of cake when she wasn't looking.

When the sun finally set, Sakura was on her way home. She had come to the park by car, since she had to transport all the food they'd devoured. Her son was sitting next to her, seeming quite content. But why wouldn't he be? He received plenty of attention, the double amount of cake and a victory over his friend (at least from his point of view). Sakura, on the other hand, felt quite miserably. Soichiro's words still stuck in her head and the day's incidents didn't help one bit. Maybe she really failed as a mother. What would happen if her son got seriously injured and she couldn't help because he'd deny her assistance? And what if she really did everything wrong with her way of raising Ryuu and she was just thoroughly messing him up? She was young and inexperienced after all, and she often felt more like a friend for her son than a mother. Was that bad? Did she miss the authority a good mother needed?

Sighing, Sakura parked the car and made a decision. Maybe it was time to call an old friend again.

* * *

Quillsh Wammy was surprised when he heard his mobile phone ring. It had been a long time since somebody had called him at that time.

The little blonde clutching his leg looked up as well.

"Your phone is ringing! Who is it? Who is it?", the small toddler wanted to know. A redhead, not much older than the blonde, looked up from his picture book, disrupted by the noise.

"Mello, calm down", Wammy said and managed to remove the eager boy gently.

He then answered the phone.

"Is it someone important? Do I know him? Is it a 'She'? Do you like her?", Mello babbled and tried desperately to listen to the voice which was at the other end of the phone.

"Mello, just be quiet, I can't understand a thing. Why don't you join Matt?"

Mello sulked, but then heard soft female laughter emitting from the mobile phone. He began beaming.

"Matt! Matt! I knew it, Wammy has got a girlfriend! And she sounds nice, too!"

Matt hardly looked up.

"Wammy's too old.", he said, taking a piece of crayon and colouring shamelessly some of the figures in his book. It wasn't even a colouring book.

"Your _mom_ is too old", Mello said and stuck out his tongue. Then he turned to his caretaker again who was leading a conversation with that mysterious woman, also known as Wammy's girlfriend.

* * *

Sakura immediately relaxed when she heard Watari's voice. And that of a loud boy screeching in the background, but it was soothing nonetheless.

"Sakura!", he exclaimed when he apparently was able to hear again. "It has been some time. How are you?"

Smiling slightly, she replied: "I'm fine, thanks, Watari."

"I'm glad to hear that", he said, followed by a "Mello, let me just lead this conversation! I'll play with you later. No, I… where did you even learn this word? Please… ah, thank you, Matt"

Sakura snickered when the background noises faded and she heard the elder man sigh.

"Still rather busy, aren't you?", she teased.

"The children are a bit… demanding. Though I cannot claim that I would want to have it otherwise. They are little geniuses after all. Ah, speaking of which, how is Ryuuzaki? The last time I saw him he was barely as tall as my knees. He must have grown a lot"

His voice was filled with some kind of nostalgic melancholy and Sakura was once again affirmed that Watari really had conceived a great affection for her son.

"He's fine", she stated, sounding proud and loving at once. Wammy was glad she hadn't changed since the last time she'd phoned him.

"Good to hear that. And his friend? How did you call him… the 'Yagami-kid'? Are they still fine?"

"Yes. Though there is something I wanted to talk to you about actually. I…"

Sakura inhaled deeply.

"Do you think I am a good mother?"

Wammy raised his eyebrows at this, but remained calm and collected.

"Well, last time I saw you, you were without a doubt an outstanding mother. And from what I've heard, you most certainly didn't change much. Why would you even ask such a question?"

"I had some arguments with Yagami senior about my way of raising Ryuu. Again."

Wammy frowned.

"What could he say against you raising your son the way you do?", he asked.

"Raisins? I hate raisins!", a voice sounded from faraway. "Shuddup, Mel", another one said and the voices disappeared again.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion", Watari said, "So, where were we? Ah, yes, the older Yagami and his ridiculous accusations. Don't worry, Sakura, as long as you love your son, you'll both be alright"

The worried mother sighed.

"No, I think… I think he's right in some aspects. I can't be a perfect mother to my child, because I just don't _see _myself as a mother. But if I am not in the slightest authoritative, how can I raise him properly?"

"Your son is very intelligent. He doesn't need strict rules or punishments, he just needs somebody who is there for him all the time. And you accomplish this with flying colours"

Sakura bit her lips, now discovering a new aspect of her parental failure.

"I work full-time", she breathed, realisation hitting her.

"Sakura, don't. You provide money for both of you, and you do it all on your own. Ryuuzaki really has someone he can look up to"

"But what if I won't be able to pay for everything we need? When I can't afford the school fees anymore? And I already work that much! I could have done so many things wrong! No, even worse: I could have done _nothing_ to help my son! I should have gotten him a nanny! Or a tutor! I cannot be both father and mother, can I? I probably have seriously failed him!"

"Sakura!", Wammy interrupted, noticing that his old friend was about to snap. The young mother went silent.

"Sakura, now please listen to me. From what I've heard, you did an excellent job. Your son seems to be happy, he even has found a friend, and you are a very strong and independent woman. The fact that you question your motherly skills only proves that you are a good mother. Nobody is perfect, but you give Ryuuzaki what he needs. This is all you need to worry about, did you hear me?"

Sakura sniffed slightly, bowing her head in shame.

"There's something more.", she admitted quietly.

"Just tell me. I am sure we will find a solution. We will talk your problems away."

"It's just, that… ever since I moved here everything went smoothly for Ryuu. He gets great marks, adepts well to his surrounding and has won a friend. But for me everything was just about raising my son, making him happy. Now I am not only accused of failing at this, but I also realised that nothing really good happened to me. Apart from getting insulted by Yagami senior, I was dumped, I haven't met one single person apart from my co-workers and strict neighbors and I have a hard time settling my accounts. I have even lost contact with the majority of my old friends from England!"

Sakura paused and took a deep breath. Then she continued.

"Truth is, I am unhappy. Not always, but more often than I'd like to admit. But aren't mothers supposed to be happy when their child's happy? Then why do I not feel this way?", Sakura demanded to know, tears now shimmering in her eyes.

"I see", Wammy mumbled, "but why haven't you invited somebody over already? There have to be some nice co-workers or other neighbors than the Yagamis."

"There are. But our house is constantly a mess, my son is different from other children his age and I am single. I didn't want them to get the impression that everything was out of control, you know? I wanted to prove that I could handle this, but I think I can't. I constantly feel bad about myself, then I get reminded that I should be happy which makes me feel even worse and then everything repeats itself. The only time I truly can be careless is when I'm with my son. But he won't be there forever, will he? You said it yourself, he is already very mature. I will be there for him until the end, but eventually he will leave me. And then I will be alone. That's the thing I am scared of the most."

Silence followed as Wammy took in every single word. Finally, he made a decision.

"Alright. When the time comes and Ryuuzaki lives his own life, you can return to England and take over Wammy's House"

Sakura gasped and the mobile phone almost slipped from her hand.

"And I think I will come over and visit you. It seems to be centuries ago since we last met and I want to take a look at Ryuuzaki myself. Do you agree with this?", he asked and Sakura nodded. Then she remembered that Watari couldn't see her so she said "Yes".

They talked a bit after this, until Watari bid her farewell after being interrupted by a boy who asked: "When you cook chocolate, is it bad when the knife gets cooked as well? Because I think it is just melting" and Sakura simply stood on the same spot for a while, contemplating everything that has been said. Or, more precisely, everything that hasn't been said. She would inherit Wammy's House, Watari's famous orphanage for gifted children? The mere thought sent shivers down her spine. He really had great confidence in her abilities, didn't he?

Sakura smiled slightly. Then she looked at her phone, typed a number and waited until the other person answered.

"Mari? Yes, it's me. Do you mind going out for a coffee someday?"

* * *

**A/N: Yes, so to anybody who is about to complain about Sakura's (apparently) sudden change in character, she has got a lot of stress, dammit! And I'm sure not even the strongest person could pull off what she does without any support. So this seemed to be like the ideal time to introduce Watari. I mean, in the Manga, he can endure L's craziness every single day, so if there is a person in Death Note one could rely on, it is certainly this man.**

**And Mello and Matt. They're crazy. I mean, how old are they, five? (Rhetorical question, I know how old they are in this fic) And they can already swear like a boss.**

**Also, Sayu has something against L as well. No surprise here, L is a little ass from time to time. And in the Manga, Sayu appeared to be very claiming (in my opinion).**

**And, yes, Light was wearing a wig for the time he was bald. Nobody mentioned that he had to show his shaved head around.**

**With that being said, I hope you forgive me that it took a little bit longer. This one was difficult to write.**

**-GenoVera**

**P.S: Mari? Who's Mari? I don't know and she won't appear in this fanfiction. I think she's a co-worker of Sakura or something. Maybe she'll be mentioned sometime in the future. Or not. Meh.**


	8. Extra: Mello

**A/N: Ha-_HA_!**

**Didn't expect this one to happen, did you? Yes, I am generously uploading an extra chapter! Yay!**

**After I realised that the last chapter was really more of an intermediary, I decided to write a little bit about Mello and Matt. They had an appearance in said last chapter, so I thought it would only be fair to give them their own chapter. This chapter is, by the way, called 'Extra', because it has no impact on the story aside from some hints. So it's just something I've quickly written last night after having finished Chapter 6. I needed the distraction as well.**

**Also, my exams are over (yess!) and I want to thank everybody who read this story! You're really the best! **

**See you around! **

**-GenoVera**

**P.S: CURSING! A lot of cursing Level: Mello! Children beware and cover your ears!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, Another Note or Nintendo. I only own the _element of surprise! Hee-ya!_**

* * *

Extra: The Mello(w) Way of Plucking Teeth

The night after Wammy had announced their trip to Japan, Mello was lying in his bed, unable to sleep.

"Matt? Are you still awake?", he asked and Matt turned the volume of his Game Boy up, so Mello could hear that he was still playing Super Mario.

"Do you think Wammy is going to stay in Japan forever?", he asked, a certain anxiety in his voice.

"Why'd he do that?", Matt asked casually.

"Because he has this girl in Japan", Mello said and rubbed his forehead. "He described her as 'nice and young'. You know what that means. He has desperately fallen in love."

"Mel, I think you are really misinterpreting something there. Besides, she has a child"

Mello opened his eyes wide.

"Oh. My. God. Matt, I've figured it out! Wammy is the father and he…"

"Wrong", Matt interrupted and Mello sent unseen glares at his four-year-old friend. Too bad the little redhead was still partly occupied with his game.

"It's from Nate's father, at least that's what Wammy claims"

"_What!?_", Mello screeched and rolled out of his bed, falling on the ground with a dramatic _thump!_

"Did you just fall out of your bed?", Matt asked rather indifferently.

"Wammy's girlfriend has slept with shithead's father? And they have created another abomination? Oh, Lord, please have mercy!"

Matt groaned and contemplated throwing something at the nagging blonde. But since the only things available were his Nintendo and his pillow, he decided against this.

"Mello, do you even listen to anything we're saying? Wammy is the godfather of your 'abomination', which was born before Nate, by the way. And he isn't in love with Mr River's ex! Geez, can I have at least one silent night with my games? Please? Just one?"

"No", Mello decided and rolled back into his bed. And he looked totally graceful while doing so.

"I'm still not convinced", Mello said mopingly.

"Whatever. Will you at least be quiet now?"

"…"

"Awesome. Now let me finish this level."

"But it could always be that…"

Mello couldn't finish his sentence since he was hit by a pillow and spent the rest of the night making dying noises, leading Matt to pack his things and sleep in the bathroom. Satisfied, Mello let show his trademark-smirk and finally dropped off.

* * *

"Boys? Are you still in there?", a voice was heard from the other side of the toddler's room.

"Shit! It's Wammy!", Mello exclaimed and quickly stood up from the uncomfortable position he'd slept in.

"'Course he is. We're way too late", Matt said from above.

"Hey, when did _you_ come back here?", Mello asked and glared at his friend. Then the meaning of his words was wriggling its way into Mello's head.

"Wait, we're late? What for?", Mello asked and recalled every appointment they had on that day.

"Dunno. Some kind of speech about new instructions on rules."

"Gaah, what's that supposed to mean? We're on holiday, aren't we?"

"Mels, it was announced, like, two month ago. Wammy's probably raging outside", Matt said and straightened his goggles.

"Pffh, don't be ridiculous, nobody can resist the Mello-charm!"

Matt looked at his crazy friend expectantly as the door opened and Wammy came into sight, wearing a neutral expression.

"Legs!", Mello screeched and pounced on said body parts of the not-so-surprised old man, clutching them tightly.

"My, Mello, good morning.", Wammy said and petted the blonde's head, who gave Matt a triumphant look. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Good morning to you as well, Matt."

Matt nodded as affirmation.

"So, I hope you two haven't forgotten the speech that is being held soon. You don't plan to go there in your pyjamas, do you?"

"Yes!", Mello answered and pointed towards the door. "Off we go! Come on, Wammy, carry me!"

Wammy smiled warmly.

"I cannot walk like that, Mello"

"Of course you can! Quick, Matt, grab the other leg!"

Matt looked at his friend and then at their caretaker. Sighing, he grabbed Mello's collar and tried to remove him from the elder man.

"Come on, Mels, not today. I have lost track of the times you've done this, and it almost never works", the redhead muttered.

"Today's my lucky day! Come on, Wammy, to the kitchen! Get a hold of yourself and make a poor little child's dream come true!"

Matt chuckled.

"Being carried through the house by clutching an old man's leg is your dream?"

Mello stuck out his tongue.

"Swimming in chocolate, drown and be buried wrapped in a delicious chocolate icing is my dream, idiot."

Matt then used the moment of distraction the thought at chocolate has created and tore the stubborn genius off.

The tantrum that followed wasn't exactly nice, but Mello quickly got over it when Wammy proposed that they should go and eat their breakfast.

Chocolate cereals would be a good twist on this rather crappy day. At least for chocolate-addicts like Mello.

* * *

Not much later, the two toddlers were sitting in the cafeteria, Matt looking around indifferently and Mello munching happily on his cereals.

_Crack!_

A sudden noise made Matt avert his head and he saw his friend sitting on his place with eyes wide aghast.

"Ow! OW! I'm dying! I'm dying!", the blonde yelled at once and covered his cheek. A few other kids were looking at him questioningly, but, knowing the hyperactive genius, they decided not to interfere.

"Matt! Go get Wammy! I think my mouth is broken!"

Matt raised an eyebrow.

"May I see?", he asked, not perturbed in the slightest.

"You kidding? I can hardly open my mouth! It _hurts_, dammit!"

"But that doesn't keep you from talkin', huh? Alright, I'll get Wammy, but please stop bitchin"

"I'm not bitching, I'm _dying_ you asshole! Move your ass and save your dear friend!"

Matt sighed and stood up, beginning to walk slowly towards the door. He only accelerated a little bit when Mello cat-called at him "I think I just swallowed a piece of my bone!".

These were the moments in life when he questioned just why the heck had his best friend to be such a nuisance.

* * *

"Wammy! My saviour! Come to my rescue!", Mello exclaimed upon seeing the old man entering the cafeteria.

"And also thanks to Matt, the beloved friend who called Wammy", the redhead mumbled to himself.

"_You _would have let me die!", Mello accused and turned to their caretaker.

"Open your mouth, Mello", he demanded and Mello obeyed.

Wammy only took one look at the child and immediately saw what the problem was: one of the lower incisors was loose. Mello was about to lose his first baby tooth.

He told Mello and the blonde narrowed his eyes. He was on the brink of death for losing his _baby teeth?_ How disgraceful. Even Matt began to snicker.

"Shut up, Matt.", he hissed and looked at Wammy with his most innocent blue eyes. "Does that mean I'm going to have a tooth gap?"

Wammy nodded.

"But don't worry, it's part of growing up" He ruffled the child's hair. "And don't forget that the assembly starts soon. I don't want you to disappear like you did last year"

"And the year before that", Matt added.

"Seriously, we could hardly walk and you didn't catch us. What makes you think we're not going to vanish again?"

"Firstly, if this is the case, I'll deprive Mello from all his chocolate and you from your games. Secondly, it's no big deal. Just a few instructions and introductions of new teachers."

Mello and Matt exchanged glances.

"Alright, we'll go", Mello sighed in defeat and Matt shrugged.

"Good. Oh, and Mello? Please tell me when your tooth has fallen out. Goodbye, you two. I will see you in the assembly hall soon"

After Wammy was gone, Mello turned to his friend and asked with a deadly serious voice:

"Do you think Wammy wants to know the time my tooth falls out because he collects all orphan's first baby teeth?"

Matt nodded. "Probably. And then he's making a necklace out of them"

Mello shuddered.

"Well, he isn't going to get my tooth, because it stays where it is.", the blonde vowed to himself. There was no way he'd walk around with such a terrible tooth gap. Determined, he took another bite of his breakfast, yelped in pain as he tried to chew with his loose tooth and finally decided that he should instead drink chocolate milk. He was sure that this was a much more balanced breakfast anyway.

* * *

"This sucks", Mello muttered when they were on their way to the assembly hall.

"I know. I hate conventions. Now, if they'd put a 'Game' in front of it, it would be okay, but like this…", Matt agreed.

"I wasn't talking about the meeting, idiot. My tooth sucks. Every time I brush against it with my tongue, it hurts."

"You really should remove it, you know? I don't want to deal with your bad mood until it magically sheds from itself."

"Forget it."

Matt massaged his temples.

"Mels, look, if you don't follow my advise, you won't be able to eat chocolate for a long time!"

Mello shook his head.

"Uh-_Uh_. I can always fluidise everything I want to eat."

"Aaaand…", Matt added, "…a tooth gap looks really bad_ass_"

Mello contemplated this one before flipping his hair back.

"Nope, still not convinced"

Matt groaned and produced a Nintendo from his pocket. Why couldn't everything be as easy as his games?

* * *

The convention was, as expected, terribly boring and Matt spent more time looking at his games console than at the podium. And, of course, he noticed his friend shifting uncomfortably in his seat from time to time, though he tried to ignore it.

He was successful for about five minutes, then he gave up and decided to confront the five-year-old.

"Mello, something wrong?"

The boy in question shifted again.

"Noooo"

It sounded more like a 'Yes' than anything else. They sat next to each other in silence for a while, until Mello snapped.

"Okay, my tooth hurts. Are you content now?"

Matt smirked. Psychology always worked with Mels.

"Then have it removed", the redhead repeated and watched the blonde averting his gaze.

"Uhhm", he started and Matt pricked up his ears. It was unusual for the self-confident genius to be so insecure.

"I…", Mello started and looked around him. "…thinkit'llhurt", he mumbled and blushed.

"You think it'll hurt?", Matt translated and Mello's blush deepened.

"You weren't supposed to understand that", he admitted and sighed.

"But your fear's totally reasonable", Matt said. "I mean, if you imagine that there are so many _nerves_ and the dental root gets like, you know, _plucked out. _That's pretty nasty"

"Thank you, my knight in shining armour. Now I'm totally calm", Mello retorted ironically.

"Woops. Sorry."

"It's alright. Just tell me if you know any method which doesn't hurt _that_ much"

"I'd have to think about that, actually. Luckily, we still have this speech to listen to"

"Huh?", Mello said and looked up. "Oh, yeah. Totally forgot that we're in the assembly hall. What is the current topic?"

"Like I would know. I think it doesn't matter, anyway. Now let me activate my brain power and at the end of this convention, I'll have a super awesome idea", Matt announced and continued playing his game. Mello snorted.

"Yeah, as if…"

* * *

When the meeting was over and the two boys managed to leave without having listened to a single word being said, they met Wammy.

"Ah, Mello, Matt. I am glad you behaved well in there. Although…", he casted a side glance at Matt's games console. "I doubt you've actually paid attention"

Mello raised his arm.

"I couldn't! I am sick!"

„He means his tooth is still loose", Matt translated, making Mello looking daggers at him.

"Which reminds me, do you know any method to remove it gently?"

Wammy thought about that.

"I think it would be best to simply wait. It'll shed from itself eventually"

"That's a stupid advise", Mello claimed. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life waiting for some silly tooth to shed! Come, Matt, we'll get it out. If necessary, by force"

Matt and Wammy exchanged glances as Mello dragged Matt along.

Sometimes, the blonde didn't really know what he wanted.

* * *

"So, did your brain power work?", Mello asked as they strolled around the corridors.

"Do you know the old 'thread-around-the-tooth'-trick? The one where you pull it out using a door?", Matt responded casually.

"Noooo, and I don't think I wanna know."

"That's a pity. How are we going to remove your too-… ouch!"

The two boys stopped as Matt bumped into something standing in the middle of the hallway. Or rather, into some_one_.

"Removing your _teeth_, Mello?", the figure asked and wide eyes fixated the child in question.

"Just one tooth, Beyond", Mello answered and tried to get past the eight-year-old. The latter quickly darted forward and laid an arm around Mello's shoulders, bringing their bodies close together. _Too_ close, in Mello's opinion. He had always found that a bad scent was emitting from the raven-haired maniac. Not a bad scent like he didn't wash himself, but it was something underlying, something… _rotten_. Yes, that was it. Mello thought that Beyond always smelt like death or something, a scent one couldn't possibly get rid of. The pale skin, the messy, black hair and the ruby-like eyes didn't help, either.

Not to mention his jam fetish. Mello was glad he hadn't carried a glass with the jelly-like substance around when Matt had bumped into him.

"I can help", Beyond whispered in Mello's ear and trailed a finger along the blonde's cheek.

"It will be so fast, you won't hardly notice it. Just _pluck!_ And gone! And you can suck the blood right from the wound! Nothing messy, really. Though you could spit at someone as long as it's still bleeding, if you desire to spread your fortune a little bit."

Beyond grinned broadly and moved his finger towards Mello's mouth. Paralyzed, Mello couldn't move and so it was Matt's turn to help his friend out. Again.

"Thank you for your help, Beyond, but we gotta go now! See ya!", he said and quickly released Mello from his predicament, whipping him out of Beyond's embrace.

Mello regained control over his body and hurried past the strange genius.

"Farewell, Mello! Good luck with your tooth!", Beyond screamed after him and Mello turned around to see the freak looking at him. No, not directly looking at _him_, but at a spot right above his head.

"And try not to die!", he added and both boys turned around the corner, accompanied by Beyond's strange laughter that still resounded in Mello's ears even minutes later.

* * *

"This didn't help one bit", Mello said as they were back in their room and shuddered. He had washed his face, like, three times but he could _swear_ that he still felt like Beyond had smeared something on his face. Friggin' lunatic.

Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"Matt, please don't tell me Beyond will go to Japan as well"

"I don't know", Matt answered, seemingly unconcerned. Though Mello could see that this possibility unsettled him as well.

"Spending one week with Beyond in a foreign country? I would prefer having plucked out _all _my teeth!", Mello stated and looked longingly at the box containing chocolate he was hiding under his bed. On the other hand…

"But anyway, what are we going to do about my tooth?"

Matt looked at the window thoughtfully.

"Well, there still is somebody we can ask", the redhead claimed.

"Really? Who is it? Some kind of guru?"

"Well… you could say he's kinda wise" _And white_, Matt added mutely.

"Okay, you convinced me. Take me to him!"

"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you about…"

"_Near?!"_, Mello exclaimed and glared at his friend accusingly. The redhead only shrugged.

"It's actually 'Nate'", the albino boy sitting on the ground said and twirled his hair.

"Shuddup, shithead. Wammy gave you this nickname and that's it" He turned to Matt.

"Matt, how the fucking hell is a three-year-old _baby_ going to help us?"

"I still score higher than you, Mello", Near said quietly.

"I said _shuddup_! You still get the child's bonus, so technically your test results don't count"

Near didn't respond, simply continuing doing his jigsaw.

"What we wanted to ask you…", Matt quickly interfered as he saw Mello's patience fading, "Do you know how to remove baby teeth most efficiently?"

"Why should _he_ know that? He isn't even _close _to loosing his baby teeth. He can't even freakin' _walk!_", Mello scoffed.

"I simply choose not to.", Near responded calmly. "And I would advise Mello to pluck it out himself. Depending on the grade of looseness, he should do it either abruptly or step-by-step"

"Well, thank you, genius. Couldn't possibly have figured that out myself", Mello sneered.

"Apparently not", Near mumbled and set the last piece into place.

"You _fucking_…!", Mello started and it was the second time that day Matt had to pull his danger-attracting friend away from something.

Mello looked back at the stoic toddler. Near didn't even stir, he was still inspecting his finished jigsaw. Mello wished that, one day, the nagging albino's teeth would rot away.

That would _so_ serve him right.

* * *

Back in their room (the second), Mello sighed and laid sprawled out at the ground. His tooth was even looser and he couldn't help but constantly brush against it with his tongue. Stupid tooth, stupid Near, stupid chocolate… no, not the chocolate, actually. The poor sweet had to feel abandoned.

Why was it that really nobody could come up with a good idea? It wasn't _that_ bad to be a bit creative and… Mello suddenly sat up, his mouth opened in surprise. Had _he_ put some thought in this? No. All the ideas had come from other person. It was hardly surprising that nothing good had been proposed until now. Mello stood up and rolled up his sleeves.

_Time to do it the Mello way_, he thought and stomped outside, a curious Matt following him.

* * *

"This isn't gonna work", Matt announced.

"Oh, my masterplan so _is _going to work.", Mello retorted and braced himself. "They call me 'troublemaker' for a reason, you know?"

"Yeah, do what you want. I'll stand here and watch"

"And there is going to be some_ hell_ of a show to watch", Mello exclaimed and went off.

Matt shook his head. Whatever had happened to the _gentle way_ of removing this blasted tooth?

He looked up and saw his friend talking to some seven-year-old boy, who didn't look pleased with the blonde.

Matt hissed as the older boy suddenly smashed his fist into Mello's face who immediately stumbled backwards, holding his cheek.

And as the audience still gaped, Mello trotted over to him, face smeared with blood.

"Success!", he announced and held the little motherfucker of a tooth in his hand, showing it around like a prize.

Matt facepalmed while Mello spit some blood at the ground.

"Come on, now", Matt said and tugged Mello's sleeve. "I propose we'll stay the rest of the day, no, the _two weeks_ until we go to Japan in our room. I can no longer take the responsibility for letting a nutcase like you run around unopposedly"

"I freaking _win_, Matt!", Mello said and grinned at him, his mouth a bloody red and a tooth gap now gracing his mandibular teeth.

"Whatever", the redhead muttered and pulled the blonde along, who was scanning his teeth with the tongue.

"Hey Matt.", he started and Matt looked at him expectantly.

"_What_ is it, Mels? What could you _possibly_ want to tell me after this hell of a day?"

"I think another one's loose"

Matt didn't even hear the "Hey, don't worry, I think the rogue would love to hit me again" from Mels since he was currently busy banging his head against the wall. Facepalms just weren't sufficient anymore.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, that was it. Really just something stupid to snack on. **

**Game Boy? Gameboy? Game boy? Handheld? Can somebody help me? How do you write this? Do you use this word at all? I haven't found anything in my dictionary and nobody could tell me ;_; **

**Please help a confused author, I'd really appreciate it!**

**And, yes, Beyond was there. I like him, although I really have to be careful about his portrayal. He'll probably be very OOC.**

**-GenoVera **


	9. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello again!**

**Yes, another chapter is up! And it's... NOT the one I was working towards to! Yay! Instead it's the Tennis-chapter I wanted to write for a while now. So, Tennis... this means amazing action, heated sport battles and sweating boys, right? RIGHT? **

**No.**

**We've only got a chapter full of dialogue. Now, upon reading this again, it's really a LOT of dialogue for this chapter. Maybe I should rename it 'the great chat' or something like that. Nah, doesn't matter.**

**So there's talking, a new OC, Light's hair being made fun of and a (in my opinion) pretty creepy Sayu-moment at the end.**

**And for all of you who might complain about it: martial arts aren't violent, it's just Light's opinion on this issue. (And I think I don't even have to start with Sakura's opinion on tennis)**

**Anyway, enjoy and also thanks to anyone who reviewed last time and helped me with the spelling-issue. I guess I'll have to re-upload the last chapter now, right? God, I'm lazy.**

**-GenoVera**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Death Note. But I'm thinking about taking it over (if only).**

* * *

Chapter 7: Tennis is super manly!

L had noticed that something bothered his mother, so he had stayed in his room to give her the time she needed to settle things. Problems could be solved in a quick way if only you had enough time for yourself. L despised sharing his problems with others, they'd only restrict him in finding a brilliant solution by himself.

And now, as L entered the kitchen, he found his mother humming happily to herself. There, he knew she only needed some time for herself!

He sat down and watched her preparing the meal they'd eat for dinner.

"Be careful not to drop any plates", L said and Sakura, upon hearing this voice appearing out of nowhere, promptly dropped a plate. Pottery shattered everywhere and Sakura quickly jumped away.

"Ryuuzaki!", she exclaimed.

Her son looked up with big eyes.

"That's why I warned you"

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't have needed to warn me if you just had remained silent, you know?"

L raised a finger.

"But if you'd listened to my warning in the first place, there'd be no need for this debate now whatsoever"

"I can't win here, can I?"

And with those words, she began cleaning up, accompanied by silent taps from Ryuuzaki's fingertips hitting the table.

"Here", she said after finally having finished getting rid of the mess and presented the prepared dinner, English porridge with fruits, to her son.

She sat down across from him and started talking.

"Honey, do you know who Quillsh Wammy is?"

L stopped shoveling food in his mouth and looked up.

"The old man you call 'Watari'?", he asked. And of course the one who'd sent them packages with delicious English cereals from time to time.

"I guess that's one way to describe him. Don't forget, it's your godfather, sweetie."

Ryuuzaki looked at Sakura expectantly.

"He is coming to visit us. And he'll bring over some kids from Wammy's house, too"

Ryuuzaki nodded.

"Will my father come as well?"

Sakura dropped her spoon.

"No… no, he won't"

"I see"

They continued eating in silence for a while .

"What about his lover or Nate?"

Sakura took a deep breath. She tried not to show any signs that this topic still made her feel rather low.

"They won't come either. Though I've talked to Watari about Nate, and he states that Nate spends most of the day under his ward, since his parents both work full-time. He is already considered as a Wammy kid." She made a short break. "What do you think about parents who work all day?"

Ryuuzaki shrugged. He knew his mother was sensitive about this kind of thing.

"I think it doesn't have anything to do with whether one is a good parent or not. It really depends on the situation"

"And when would you find it acceptable?", Sakura breached the subject again.

"Ah, let's see…", Ryuuzaki assumed his world-famous thinking pose. "When the fridge is filled with sweets and the necessity of putting on shoes doesn't exist?"

Sakura raised her brow. She knew her son didn't take most of the things seriously, but she would have liked to receive an honest answer.

L saw this mixed emotions flashing over his mother's face.

"And…", he paused and blushed a bit "…when one has got really a great mommy such as mine"

He blushed even a stronger red and stared at his dinner intently.

Sakura felt a wide grin sprawl across her face. She bent over and kissed her son's heated cheek.

"Thank you, sweetie"

L made a little 'Hm'-noise and hurriedly continued eating.

"So you don't mind Watari and his kids coming over then?"

"As long as Watari bakes his delicious chocolate cake and the children stay out of my room, I am okay with it"

"I think we can arrange that", Sakura said and ruffled her child's hair. She really had the greatest son in the world.

* * *

It was Monday morning and Light hated the world as soon as he woke up. He went to brush his teeth –hatred still present- and brushed his short hair.

He had had a rather rough weekend, especially the yesterday's Sunday. And it all had started so well, with him seeing the pale owl-boy again. And then Sayu pulled up her childish stunt, leading his father to give him a lecture about L later in the evening. He really was fed up with everything. And Sayu still behaved somewhat differently around him. It made Light feel both relief and sorrow, and he really _hated_ this emotional insecurity- _ah, there we go again_, he thought.

He somehow managed to get over with the super happy morning routine and left the house, seeing L already waiting for him.

"Light-kun, is everything al…?"

"One more word and I'll bite your head off", Light interrupted him grumpily. He might as well let out his anger at L. Not nice, but effective.

"My, did you have a bad day? A bad hair-day, maybe?"

"Well, thanks to _you_, I almost don't have any freaking hair anymore that could be looking bad!"

"But Light-kun sure has enough emotionality to be radiating a bad-mood-cloud that almost goes as far as his pride"

"I hope you'll someday combust spontaneously", Light grumbled and began pacing. Maybe this would serve as a more efficient stress-relief.

"This would be a hairy situation indeed", L mumbled and looked into the sky.

"Could you _please _stop with the hair analogies? I am on the brink of suffocating you with your own sweets"

"That is a rather hair-raising thought, I have to admit", L said and then quickly ran away from a now raging Light.

* * *

Light was chasing L until the school came in sight and the two boys agreed with a truce. They were both panting heavily and L had a hard time getting his cheeks to turn their normal colour again.

"I think we need to do more sports", L stated and Light mentally agreed.

"This will get rid of your lack of challenges as well", the auburn haired boy added.

"Then it's decided!", L exclaimed and straightened his back. "So what type of sport does Light-kun propose?"

"I'm not sure. Let's meet today after school and discuss it."

"Agreed"

The two friends took one last breath and then went to attend their classes.

* * *

"Some kind of martial art?", L mumbled with one finger in his mouth.

Light reminisced about the one time L had injured Teku merely using a book and shuddered. He dreaded to think about what would happen if the autistic was taught exactly _where _to hit.

"I don't think so. Imagine what our parents would think if we started fighting against each other with those techniques. They surely wouldn't be pleased. No, we need a nonviolent way of challenging."

They both thought a while in silence. Then Sakura interrupted them by bursting into the room.

"Ryuu? I'm back! Oh, good day, Light! Do you boys need anything?", she asked, still looking a bit dishevelled from a long day at work.

"Aside from a few mental stimuli? Nothing, thank you", L answered.

"I know I really should know better but… what kind of mental stimuli?", Sakura replied curiously.

"Ah, I am glad you asked. Light-kun and I are momentarily looking for an appropriate sport the two of us could do. And you have just obliged yourself to help us"

"Oh, the horror", Sakura muttered ironically and sat down.

"What about martial art?", she proposed

"No! God dammit, what is it with you two and your violence?", Light interfered.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and grinned smugly.

"Maybe this kind of activity is simply too manly for you?"

"Excuse me? I am not effeminate! And besides, I don't see anything manly in gripping other male's limbs and being in such a close contact with sweating persons" Light shuddered at the thought of such a unsanitary diversion.

"I was thinking about tennis, actually", he continued.

"Tennis? I think that is quite acceptable", L agreed.

"Wait, isn't that also a women's sport?", Sakura interjected.

"Huh? What do you mean?", Light asked.

"Well, take only those young feminine tennis players with their short, white mini skirts who stand there protruding their hardly covered bums…"

"Eh…", Light started. "I think I am seriously disturbed right now"

L turned to his mother.

"Mommy, I think you just have gravely disrupted Light's sensitive mind."

" I have? Well then I am sorry"

"There really is no need to apologise, mom. I constantly do this. Just look at it as some kind of achievement"

"Thank you, you little ass", Light muttered.

"Light-kun is welcome", L chirped in response.

"So, Tennis is it then?", Sakura intervened before they could go further than calling each other names.

"Yes", L and Light answered in unison.

"But without the skirts", L added and received a 'You-don't-say'-look from Light and a 'What-a-pity'-look from his mother (which he decided better not to question).

* * *

Ten days later, two little figures were heading towards the tennis court, one of them slightly slouching, the other one kind of hovering.

"Ah, are you two Ryuuzaki and Light?", a tall, brown haired woman asked them and clutched her hands in exaggerated excitement.

"Yes. I'm Light and this is Ryuuzaki", Light cleared and flashed the woman his trademarked Lady-Killer-smile.

Her eyes sparkled and she exclaimed: "Oh, the two of you are so cute! I really like your hairstyle, Light"

Light pouted upon hearing this, but quickly covered it with another shining smile.

"Thank you very much, miss", he said sweetly and noticed L making a scarcely audible gagging sound.

"Oh, that's adorable! You are a little gentleman, aren't you? And you, Ryuuzaki, kinda remind me of my dog!"

L tilted his head and Light broke into a laugh.

"Oh, but it's a cute dog, I swear. We have called him 'Panda' and he looks like a little bear!"

"You mean like a panda?", Light questioned while L still tried to get over being compared to a dog.

"Yeah, that's right! My, you sure are clever!"

Light and L exchanged glances.

"Ah, I haven't told you my name yet!", the woman cried and quickly bowed down.

"I'm Misume Maro. You might as well just call me 'Maro', though. I will be your tennis coach. Follow me, I'll show you the changing room"

Light and L followed, Light already being annoyed and L reciting every kind of dog breed he knew to find any similarities. He didn't, though. What a disappointment.

"Soooo, here we are! You are a little late, the others have already changed! But don't worry, I'm sure everyone will be glad to have you here at the tennis club! Especially the ladies", she added and prodded Light in the side.

She then went off and left the two still rather dazzled boys alone.

"Did she inhale too much of the tennis court's dust or what's her problem?", Light questioned upon entering the changing room.

"I think it's a most common problem called 'stupidity'. Light-kun used to catch it from time to time."

"And this comes from someone who claims that toes will replace fingers one day."

"There are actually many indicators that…"

"Shut up and get changed" He paused a little. "You… are getting changed, aren't you?"

"Yes. My mother insisted on that"

"Such a wise woman"

L watched as Light got rid of his shirt.

"Especially the ladies", he quoted and enjoyed the look of mixed emotions on Light's face.

"Turn around, you perv", he said eventually, but L only continued grinning contently and removed his own shirt as well. This made Light turn around, muttering "you pervy stick", whereas L remained in his position triumphantly.

When they were done, Light examined L's badly-fitting clothes. His friend only wore a big sized white shirt and blue trousers, which didn't look really adept for sports.

"Are you really planning on doing physical exercise while wearing those clothes?", he asked.

"I find them quite comfortable. Whereas Light-kun has put entirely too much thought into his outfit"

Light snorted. He wore a shiny, white t-shirt with three blue stripes and short brown trousers which perfectly fit his complexion. Yes, he _had_ contemplated his outfit carefully, so what? It was better than wearing a white sack and… well, another sack, only with two trouser legs.

"At least Light-kun knows how to perfectly adept to this feminine sport", L teased.

"I am not the one crying like a girl", he retorted, happy to finally being able to bring up the old sand box-incident.

"Manly tears from a battlefield injury", L insisted and gnawed on his thumb.

"A six year old threw sand at you", Light said pointedly.

"Precisely", L said.

"I'd like to have you as a politician. The war issue would have been settled immediately."

"Because I would throw sand at my enemies?"

"No, because you would _cry_ whenever being thrown _at_", Light deadpanned.

"Mmmh. Speaking of sand, I have you to know that we will receive guests tomorrow"

"What has this to do with sand?", Light asked confused. L shrugged.

"Nothing, I just thought this made a nice transition"

"I'm intrigued. Now then, what kind of guests?"

"My mother's old friend from England who runs an orphanage for gifted children. He'll bring some of those with him as well", the raven explained.

"That's interesting. Have I ever heard of him?"

"He is the provider of those 'terrible-sugar-lumps', as Light-kun likes to call them"

"Ah, those disgusting cereals. And the orphans?"

"I don't know them. But they're all younger than Light-kun or me"

"How reassuring. I guess they're all little brats", Light complained.

"That's probably the reason why Watari would think we could befriend them", L countered. Light straightened his back.

"But I'm a gentleman, remember?"

"Yes, and I am a dog. Give it up, Light-kun, Coach-sensei's judgement isn't exactly brilliant."

"_You_ do look like a panda, though…", the young genius mused and tossed back his hair (now that it was so short it didn't quite provide the same effect as before, but it should work).

"Light-kun, this remark goes straight into my 'I-am-adorable'-research"

Light groaned.

"That's still running? I thought you'd given up on this shit years ago."

"Real scientists never abandon their projects. I have also noticed that Light-kun's usage of bad words has increased over the years."

"I guess that's your bad influence, L", Light retorted.

L said nothing, simply processing this new amount of data, when they reached the tennis court.

"Oooh, you are really looking cuddly in that outfit, Light!", Maro exclaimed as she saw the stylish clothes the newest member of her club wore.

"And you as well, Ryuu! You look like a little toddler who tried to put on his daddy's clothes! That's so cute!"

"Man, you sure are receiving a lot of 'I-am-adorable'-factors for your statistics today, aren't you?", Light mocked.

"They don't count when they are repeated over and over again. And I stopped taking her into account when she called you 'cuddly'. You are probably as cuddly as a cactus"

Light overheard the last statement.

"Are you saying that her opinion still counted when she called you a dog? Some nice priorities you got there"

"It's for science", L said sulkily.

"Come on, now!", Maro yelled and grasped Light's hand. She reached for L's hands as well, but he quickly pulled them back and stuck them into his pocket. This was only remarked by a "Oooh, are you shy?", from Maro and a knowing look from Light. The three then hurried to an empty tennis court where Maro gave them their tennis rackets. She instructed them briefly and then let them practise a little bit. It seemed like Light was a natural talent for this sport, since he had a good condition and a brilliant intuition. Ryuuzaki on the other hand had problems holding the tennis racket and running fast enough to hit the ball, but when he did, he smashed it in such impossible angles that his opponents would have no chance of returning it.

* * *

After two hours, the boys were totally exhausted and panting heavily.

"As much as I want to dare you to play against me, I think now isn't probably the best time", Light grunted and wiped his forehead.

"Agreed. It wouldn't be beneficial for Light-kun's good looks, either. Or rather, his good locks"

Light stopped breathing for a moment.

"That was terrible. When did you start cracking jokes like that?"

"Must be the adrenaline. Now, please, let us leave this place, before…"

"That's it! Training's over!", Maro announced, drowning L's sentence with her cheerful voice.

"You two were awesome today! I am looking forward to train you"

L and Light exchanged glances.

Enduring her would prove as a greater challenge than the training itself.

* * *

"Light! How was your training?", Sachiko asked when Light returned. Sayu looked at him expectantly as well. She seemed to have gotten over whatever it was that had been bothering her, though it could be due to the fact that she hadn't seen Ryuuzaki in over one week and was therefore convinced that Light was partially hers again.

"Really nice", Light said, still sounding a little bit drained.

"Then go upstairs and take a shower, Nii-san!", Sayu said and wrinkled her nose. "You stink!"

Light laughed and patted her head.

"I guess that's the smell of manliness", he said and went off, still beaming. Sayu gazed after Light and wondered if one had to be a genius to understand her brother sometimes. She shook her head and continued playing with her dolls. Since Light had gotten the permission to meet his annoying friend again he had spent noticeably less time with her. She felt like Light would look down on her every time he had spent time with Ryuuzaki. This made her sad and angry at the same time. Yes, she wasn't as clever as her brother or the strange neighbor's kid, for that matter, but it wasn't her fault, was it? She could do nothing to change the fact that she never would be able to meet her brother's standards. Who needed intelligence anyway? Sayu certainly didn't.

The little girl then started to pick up the doll she'd painted herself, the one with messy black hair and blurred dark eyes. She hit its head against the wall once.

_Sayu certainly didn't._

* * *

**A/N: Ta-daah! Told you it was creepy.**

**The Sayu-issue probably will be elaborated (and hopefully settled) in later chapters. **

**For the upcoming events we'll focus on the Wammy kids and L, so I'm sorry to tell you that Light won't appear in the next chapter(s?). But L will have to cope with a bunch of nagging kids first, so Light will come around when he is somewhat accustomed to the combined impact of Mello, Matt and Beyond. Yes, I decided to include Beyond as well, although he will definitely be altered a bit. You know, less the 'suicidal-murderous-crazy' but more the 'random-strange-crazy'. Something like this.**

**See you around!**

**-GenoVera**


	10. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, here we are again!**

**The chapter I have been working forward to. And it is still a little bit of a build-up for the really funny stuff. I actually need some time with all those characters running wild O_O**

**Anyway, there'll be swearwords (thanks to Mello), randomness (thanks to B), another kinda-OC and a sulky L. To all those who'd hoped that the Wammy's and L will fall in each other's arms instantly... they won't. Because L is not amused.**

**No Light this time, as I've already said, but a lot of introductions and 'becoming-accustomed-to's (that isn't even a word).**

**I hope you'll enjoy anyway, because there is definitively something cuter/funnier to come.**

**-GenoVera**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the madness that is Death Note, nor Another Note for that matter.**

* * *

Chapter 8: The great Invasion of Monkey-King's Castle

* * *

"Honey! Honey!"

It was an early morning and loud shouts could be heard all over the house. A very stressed looking Sakura stomped upstairs, intending to drag this little piece of… an amiable son out of his room and make him get dressed. Watari would arrive around noon, and the house still looked like a mess. The least she needed now was a son who'd perfectly fit in this overall picture.

"Ryuuzaki! Come on, now, I know you're not sleeping!" That was actually easy to tell, since her son never seemed to sleep after the sun had risen , unless it was truly necessary.

A soft mumbling emitted from the room Ryuuzaki reigned in. Could it be that he was sleeping after all?

"Sweetie?", she asked, her voice softer this time. Another mumble.

"I'm coming in now", she announced and carefully opened the door.

* * *

Sakura looked at the bed and found it to be even more ruffled than usual, with a big pile of blankets laying in the middle. However, upon closer inspections, the pile moved and shuffled a bit. Sakura smirked and tiptoed towards her destination.

She pressed one finger on the bundle and felt how it stilled completely.

"Got you, Sweetie", she said and heaved the boy along with the blankets into her arms.

A black-haired head came into sight and looked at Sakura with big, black eyes, which held an almost accusing expression.

"That was unasked for", he claimed.

"Quite the contrary, Honey. What kind of event will take place today?"

"Watari and the kids will arrive today", Ryuuzaki answered instantly.

"Correct. Then I have to ask you what you are still doing here. I told you to tidy up your room and put some decent clothes on, didn't I?"

"I'm not going to answer rhetorical questions", the raven said stubbornly.

"I didn't expect an answer, but rather actions"

"No", Ryuuzaki said and crawled completely under the blanket.

Sakura sighed.

"Okay, now I want an explanation. What's wrong, Sweetie?"

Ryuuzaki mumbled something in the cover.

Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed the bundle, turning it so that it was now roughly facing her.

"How about you are going to make this understandable, huh?"

"Today's Thursday", Ryuuzaki said and sulked.

Sakura looked at him expectantly.

"And today's a school day."

"But you got exempted from your lessons.", Sakura mentioned.

"That's not the point. You can't stay at home on a Thursday, that's not how it works."

Sakura was a little confused by then.

"It's only an exception, though"

"Exactly. It's an exception and it disrupts my daily routine. I can't just let foreign kids influence me that much.", he pouted.

"But you knew they'd come long ago. Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't think they'd arrive at a Thursday. Why didn't you choose the weekend? That would be much more convenient"

Sakura began caressing her son's cheek.

"Honey, you know I work and Watari has his children and the orphanage. It's not easy to arrange a meeting under these conditions. This day was ideal and we both even got a day off. I know you don't like changes in your daily routine, but it's only for one week and they'll be gone. And you'll get extra cake for the amount of time they'll stay here"

Ryuuzaki looked Sakura in the eyes and once again realised that this meeting was really important to his mother. What was he doing, dwelling on his irrational feelings like this? Emotions were always troublesome, but it was worse when he couldn't even detect where they came from.

He nodded quickly and hoped the bad mood created by the upcoming arrival of the Wammy's would vanish eventually.

"Thank you, Sweetie", Sakura said and kissed her son's cheek. "But you do realise that you just sold your soul?"

"Yes. But it's for cake so I think I'll be fine"

"That's my boy", Sakura laughed and stood up, taking Ryuuzaki with her. They still had so much to do.

* * *

"Mommy, I think I'll cancel our contract."

"But you look so cute, really! Besides, it's written in blood so there's not much you can do. Now get a hold of yourself and stand up. I'd like to see your entire look"

Ryuuzaki only continued sitting sulkily on a chair, arms folded around his whole body carefully.

"Honey, just stand up for one minute. You can't just remain sitting there the whole week our guests stay in our house."

"I think I'll probably pass out from hunger first. Could you please turn around or close your eyes so I can fetch something to eat?"

"Oh, for cake's sake, I am your mother and I have seen you in outfits that were far worse than this one"

Ryuuzaki looked at her sceptically.

"Worse than cotton trousers combined with V-necked shirts?"

"When you were three I had you walk around as a giant stick of rock", Sakura retorted dryly.

"Oh. I must have pushed that to the back of my mind", Ryuuzaki mused.

"I've got pictures" Sakura said with a broad grin on her face. "And I'm pretty sure Yagami junior'd like to get a copy"

Ryuuzaki stared at her.

"That's… mean", he sulked and finally stood up. Sakura smiled at him. He really looked great wearing those clothes, albeit a little younger. But at least the creepiness-factor had decreased.

She knocked off some dust from his light blue top and handed him a lollipop. He'd earned this.

"Can you now please help me with the house? There's still a lot of cleaning to do."

Her son nodded and they worked until it was almost noon.

* * *

"Okay, just put this vase here and the picture over there and we're done!", Sakura announced after hours of tidying up. Ryuuzaki did as he was told and exhaled heavily. His carefully arranged hair had gone messy again over the time passed.

"Then I'll put myself in my room and we're fine", he said and was about to go upstairs, as he was stopped by his mother.

"Oh no, you'll stay here with me and greet our guests. If you don't, they'll all come upstairs and invade your room, anyway"

"That's a valid point", Ryuuzaki thoughtfully admitted and quietly sat down in the kitchen, his third favourite place in the house, right after his own room and his mother's bed room.

"Are you going to remain there?", Sakura asked him and Ryuuzaki nodded.

"I'd like to keep away from the danger area. And also I can protect the fridge"

"Fine. Just don't run away when I turn my back to you, okay?"

"I only did this…" L glanced up and nibbled on his fingers "… five times, ever since I could walk fast. If you think about it in a certain way, it could be one time for each year since I turned three. I think I see a coincidence with the stick-of-rock-incident here"

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I think you're just making things up. I almost never tried to stick you in a costume on Halloween after that."

The raven haired boy tilted his head.

"Should I pick up on the 'almost'?"

"You should pick up on the 'tried'. That implies that I have never been successful", Sakura answered, sounding slightly disappointed.

"How reassuring", her son muttered and continued sucking on his sweet.

They both became silent after that. However, when they'd gotten almost used to the peacefulness, the door bell suddenly rang.

"Oh god, I'm nervous. Sweetie, do I look good?", Sakura said swiftly, seeing as this was probably Watari, accompanied by a bunch of overly alert kids.

"Is it socially acceptable to say that you look like someone who tries too hard in order to impress someone?"

Sakura paused.

"I guess it's kind of acceptable.", she shrugged and took one last deep breath…

…and opened the door.

* * *

The wrinkled face of a kind old man instantly came into sight and Sakura barely had the time to react as she was embraced tightly.

"It's good to see you again, Sakura", Watari said and let go of her.

"My, you really didn't age a day. I wish I had your genes", the elder continued.

"The wrinkles suit you, Watari. They complete the grandfatherly image perfectly", Sakura said laughingly.

"Still a friend of back-handed blows, aren't you?", Watari said and laughed as well.

"Coming through! Coming through!", a voice suddenly interrupted them and a blonde shock of hair wormed it's way through the two adults.

"Wammy, what are you doing here, we really have problems with those freaking bags and… whoa!", Mello exclaimed with round eyes as he saw Sakura.

"_You_ are Wammy's girlfriend? Isn't he, like, too old for you?"

"Mels, seriously, I am going to strangle you with your own blonde Barbie hair if you don't shut your mouth right now", another voice interfered.

"Ah, but I cannot shut my mouth _completely._ I have two tooth gaps", Mello said proudly and turned to Sakura, giving her a flashing smile.

"I can put a drinking straw through there!", he announced and Sakura smiled at him.

"So you're the one who doesn't like raisins?", she asked.

"I hate them. Though I could put raisins through there as well. Technically."

"Nice story, dude", Matt said and turned to Sakura. "Do you have socket somewhere? I need to recharge my game boy"

"This is how Matt says 'Hello'", Mello translated. "Since he doesn't have any tooth gaps, he needs some alternative"

"I could smash your third tooth out, you know?"

Sakura looked at Matt. "_Smashing_ his third tooth out?", she questioned. Matt shrugged. "That's a long story. So, where's the socket?"

"Over there", Sakura said and pointed at some undefined spot near the bathroom.

Matt trailed off and Mello followed.

"Uhm. Hello", a soft female voice was heard now that everybody was gone and Sakura looked behind Watari. There stood a young brunet, about Matt's age, with a violet suitcase and a green dress.

"Hello", Sakura responded and offered her hand to the girl. She shyly took a hold of it and let the single mother shake it twice. Then she withdrew her hand and hid it behind her back.

"I'm A", she said and bowed. "Nice to meet you"

"I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you as well"

The young girl relaxed upon seeing the kind smile the foreign woman wore. She was pretty good at seeing right through people, which had made her shy and sceptical around adults, especially foreign ones, since they were almost always deceiving, but this woman seemed to be warm-hearted.

"You can call me Akin", A added and Wammy nodded to her. He knew only a few adults were permitted to call her such, and those were mostly the ones at Wammy's house she had known for a long time. And one old man she'd met in the park who'd offered her sweets once, which she would have almost accepted if it hadn't been for Beyond who'd successfully shooed him (Wammy had to admit that her judgement really wasn't always the best, despite her passion for the human nature).

After the introduction was done, Watari looked around.

"Akin, do you know where Beyond is?"

She shook her head. "He said he would eventually follow"

Watari sighed.

"You only have trouble with that boy. Akin, is it okay for you to stay with Sakura while I go and search for him?"

Akin nodded.

Watari left and the girl looked up at Sakura.

"I must apologise. Beyond is really nice deep within, but he has problems adapting to the social norms"

Sakura chuckled softly.

"I think I am already used to that. May I ask how old you are?"

"I am five", Akin said and emphasized this by showing Sakura her outstretched hand.

"It's pretty brave to go on a trip to a foreign country with three other boys", she said. Akin nodded.

"First, I didn't want to, but Beyond said he'd go so I wanted to stick along. I didn't want to stay back alone at the orphanage with Roger being in charge." She began whispering.

"I think he doesn't even like kids"

"Not even you? Because I think you've charmed me in mere minutes", Sakura said and Akin formed a silent 'O' with her mouth.

"You really are nice. I can understand why Wammy thinks highly of you"

Sakura smiled at her gratefully. Maybe she shouldn't have been so worried after all.

* * *

Wammy found Beyond crouching next to their suitcases, inspecting something on the ground.

"Beyond?", he asked and approached slowly.

"Not now", the eccentric child said and waved his hand in aggravation.

"May I ask what you are doing?"

"Mmmmh."

Wammy raised an eyebrow and looked past the boy's back. He saw two worms tied together wriggling desperately to break apart. Beyond's reddish eyes were observing the spectacle.

"Beyond, not again. I told you not to harm animals anymore!"

"It isn't 'harm'. If I damage only the last 49 % of their bodies, they'll simply grow back. I… _Oh, dammit, I didn't knot them together tightly enough!_", he yelled as the two animals separated and started creeping away.

"Beyond!", Watari exclaimed and clutched both of the boy's wrists to prevent any further animal abuse.

"What? They've got so big worms here in Japan! I thought you told us to 'study the new surroundings'!"

"B, you know as well as I do that this isn't what I've meant."

"Well, then be more specific, old man!"

"B, you… let's talk about this later, okay? Just don't forget that you're only here as a _guest_. So try behaving somewhat decently."

"Can I at least crush those two?", he asked and eyed the worms greedily.

"No", Watari decided and pulled the stubborn boy along. Beyond didn't struggle, he simply averted his eyes to the bright grey sky.

* * *

Watari saw Sakura and Akin leading a conversation and he actually didn't want to interrupt the two, but Akin turned her attention towards them as she saw them approaching.

"Beyond!", she yelled and Beyond doffed his imaginary hat as a response.

"Beyond, that's Sakura. Sakura, that's Beyond"

"Greetings", Sakura said and eyed this boy thoroughly. He had messy black hair, pale skin and a face reminding her of Ryuuzaki, although the new arrival somehow still looked different. And his eyes were an unusual ruby-like red, though they were as unblinking as the ones of her son.

"Good day", Beyond replied and bowed deeply. He reemerged with a grin plastered on his face which made him look like a lunatic. However, Sakura found this intriguing rather than repulsive. At least she was used to sudden outbursts of madness. Had to be a genius-thing.

Beyond almost started crackling as he had showed this woman one of his smiles, which usually would be enough to make any child cry, and said wench didn't seem to be bothered at all. That was really utterly fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

As the attention was still drawn towards Beyond, Akin suddenly noticed something and tugged Wammy's sleeve. The elder man looked at her questioningly and Akin pointed at the door frame, where a little boy was standing. His eyes were widened in curiosity and Akin could as well see a little bit of uncertainty in them, although it was brilliantly disguised. It instantly reminded her of Near.

"Hey, Honey!", Sakura said and smiled at him warmly, a smile which three out of all those present recognised as the smile of a mother, not including Sakura and Beyond, since the latter hadn't noticed she was smiling and Beyond was gaping at the foreign boy.

"Ryuuzaki?", Watari asked in surprise. "Is that really you?"

"Since it is unlikely that my mother would take some other child in and name him 'Honey', yes, that's me"

Watari didn't even bother commenting on the greeting similar to that of his mother and took in the sight of his godson. The now eight-year-old boy had grown a lot, he was even almost as tall as Beyond, and overall he seemed to be a lot healthier than the last time Watari'd seen him. He was still pale, but not the transparent, sick-looking complexion he'd possessed back in England. Instead he had doll-like skin, if you wanted to make such sappy comparisons. And Watari certainly wanted. He had always liked Sakura's son, and seeing him grown like this filled him with a fatherly pride. Although it have been Sakura's earnings all alone.

Also, there were still things that had remained the same. His big, black eyes, his way of wording things and –Watari's gaze trailed down- yes, still no shoes.

"I know, it's quite the cliché, but… you have grown a lot. Last time I saw you, you only were as tall as my knees"

"Really, Watari, that's not only _quite_ the cliché. Ryuu, I'd like you to meet Watari, Beyond and Akin", Sakura said.

She pointed at the three guests and Ryuuzaki took his time to memorise everything that could be important later on.

"Whoa!", Mello's voice suddenly interrupted their introduction and five pairs of eyes turned to the two toddlers standing in the hallway, gaping at Ryuuzaki.

"Good grief, he's like the dark side of shithead", Mello said in awe and Matt instinctively took a step back.

"Mello!", Watari scolded and Mello's head turned, now facing Wammy.

"Whoops, sorry. Didn't see you over there"

Watari massaged his temples.

"Ryuuzaki, these two charming creatures are Mello and Matt. Mello, this is Ryuuzaki. Please call him by his name from now on"

"Ryuuzaki is too long. Dark shithead has one syllable less!", Mello complained, whereupon he received another admonishing look from Wammy, making him successfully shut up.

"Goddamnit, I get it, okay?", he mumbled and crossed his arms in a rather feminine manner. Wammy looked around.

"Well, now that we are all here, I must remind you that we aren't here just for fun, but that this proves as a great change to learn about the Japanese culture. Also, from now on, you'll please refrain from talking in any other language than Japanese"

"What?! But I cannot properly curse in Japanese!", Mello exclaimed and tossed his blonde hair back. Also in a rather feminine manner, L noticed.

Matt chuckled slightly.

"Hey, if you keep Mello from cursing, he'll talk about 80% less!"

"Shuddup, Matt! We're talking about my existence here!"

Matt shrugged.

"Maybe you can asked Observer-Boy over there whether he could teach you some Japanese baddie-words", he said and pointed at L, who had just been standing at his spot staring at the foreigners.

"I'm afraid I cannot offer you my help. Sadly, I do not know any swearwords"

Sakura almost choked upon hearing that, though she covered it quickly and discretely with a coughing fit, leading Akin to pat her back worriedly.

Mello snorted.

"No chance, Matt. Mummy's boy isn't going to help us. Just one look at his fancy clothes told me that"

L raised an eyebrow. Apparently everything exceeding chocolate-covered clothes counted as fancy in the blonde's eyes. If so, the young boy surely would shut up for good as soon as he'd see L's actually clothes, which were like a magnet for everything sweet. L was even sure that his favourite shirt once had changed colours due to cake stains.

"I propose we'll carry our luggage inside first", Wammy interfered as he feared the argument might get out of hand.

"That's right, fancy boy! What do you think of getting your hands dirty, huh?", Mello teased and walked towards the door, striding like a triumphant martial artist who had just wrestled somebody down.

L looked after for a short time, then followed, pacing up so that he was soon directly walking next to the blonde.

"Mello", he said and upon the blonde looking up, he opened his mouth and muttered in the apathetic voice of his every Japanese swearword he knew, starting with the innocent ones and then slowly getting into the really heavy stuff.

By the time he had finished he looked in the utterly confused face of the five-year-old, nodded to him once and quickened his pace, leaving a dumbstruck Mello behind. The blonde, having a feeling of what the dark-haired boy had just said to him (although he didn't understand half of the words, to be honest), took out a chocolate bar, unwrapped it and bit into it.

"God dammit!", he mumbled to himself in English "I should have brought a voice recorder with me!"

* * *

"Where shall we put our luggage?", Akin asked Sakura as they were transporting their things to the house.

"Just drop them here, we'll take care of it later.", Sakura responded.

Upon hearing that, everyone let go of their suitcases instantly. Sakura turned around and took in the sight of various bags scattered around everywhere. She sighed.

"_Almost like it had been before", _she thought and smiled to herself. Then her gaze fell upon her son and Matt, who had trailed behind everyone else.

"Okay, when I said 'just drop it here' I meant inside the house, you two. Do you intend on sleeping outside?"

L raised his arm.

"It's not even my bag, I just helped carrying"

"That's very kind of you, but do you intend to sleep while the entry door is wide open? Because you dropped your suitcase in the door frame"

L put one finger in his mouth and inspected the situation in question. Indeed, it seemed like the bag would inevitably be a hindrance. L got on his knees and took a closer look. He wondered if there was a solution to this predicament without moving the suitcase. Maybe if one would move the door instead? Or the house? That certainly required further research…

"Is that normal?", Mello asked and looked at the completely distracted boy crouching in front of the bag, nibbling his thumb.

"In some way, yes", Sakura said and scratched her head.

"I wonder how somebody can get obsessed over such a mundane thing. Right, Matt?", Mello muttered and poked his friend in the side who, in the meanwhile, had dropped his own bag next to the others. The latter didn't respond, instead he simply continued looking at his handheld, blocking out the rest of the world.

"Damn it, Matt! You're completely ruining my point just now!"

Matt smashed some buttons.

"What point? Do you ever make points when you speak?"

"I was just… you know what? Forget it. There are enough other persons to witness my pure awesomeness.", Mello said and flipped back his hair.

"Did he just equate gaming and staring at suitcases?", Sakura mumbled and was rewarded with a wide grin from Mello.

"See, Matt? She knows what's up. Now, can somebody wake up staring boy over there? It's draughty in here"

Akin rolled her eyes and went over to Ryuuzaki. The raven-haired child didn't budge, but fixated her with his coal-like eyes. Akin smiled at him.

"Thank you for helping me with my luggage! I can take care of the rest"

And she gripped her case and put it down next to the others. She then offered Ryuuzaki her hand.

"Come, stand up"

L looked at her and decided to discuss the suitcase-problem with Light-kun later on. Now he just wanted to eat and be left alone. He ignored Akin's friendly turn and stood up on his own; simply going to the kitchen without sparing a second glance at the persons crowding in the corridor.

Sakura looked after his son worriedly and decided it would be better to give him some alone time.

"Come on, guys, I'll show you around", the single mother said and started leading the group of four brilliant children and one brilliant gentleman through the whole house. The children had to admit that Sakura's home was rather cosy in case you overlooked the occasional dirty spots and the dilapidated outside.

"I really like what you did with this building", Wammy admitted and whistled appreciatively.

"And I guess I cannot thank you enough for dedicating this house to me and my son. I surely would never have found a property in such a lovely location", Sakura responded.

Wammy smiled at her.

"There's no need to thank me. You even insisted on paying me for it"

"I pay only a fraction of the cost, Watari. I know what such a house would usually be worth, even if it's shabby"

Mello pursed his lips.

"Just why couldn't we move to a crappy-ass expensive hotel instead?", the blonde complained. Matt lifted his head.

"Did you just invent a swearword?", he asked.

"Shuddup, Matt, this language isn't cut out to be a cursy one!"

"Cursy?"

"Neologism, you stupid redhead! I can do whatever I want!" Mello averted his bright blue eyes to Sakura. "I demand answers, you evil seductress!"

Matt sighed and smacked Mello's forehead. "You called her 'stepmother' mere hours ago, you indecisive lunatic"

Mello blushed and pulled Matt's hair. "I did not! You liar!"

"Ow!", Matt exclaimed and shoved his handheld back in the pocket, making himself ready for the fight.

Sakura was, for the first time in her life, somehow relieved to see a fight ensuing. It distracted the boys from their question. Sakura herself had not quite known why she insisted on them staying at her house, although it would bother Ryuuzaki, but she had a theory. Watari had offered her an employment as the directress of the orphanage for gifted children which had both delighted and frightened her immensely. Sakura supposed that she just wanted to know exactly what she was getting herself into by taking care of the children for one week in her very own house.

And as she disentangled the two scrambling geniuses and calmed down both the insulted Matt and the yelling Mello, she knew that she somehow had a natural talent for taking care of overly intelligent children. How splendid, indeed.

* * *

"Okay, kids, two of you can sleep in the old child's room and the other two can take the guest room.", Sakura explained as they had finished exploring the upper floor.

"Can I sleep in the attic?", Beyond asked and creaked his fingers. Akin looked at him slightly disappointed.

"No sleeping in the attic, Beyond. I thought we had resolved this after the bat-incidence.", Wammy scolded.

"It's really tempting, but I guess I don't even want to ask", Sakura muttered.

"We'll take the guest room!", Mello announced, grabbed Matt and pulled him and his suitcases along the hallway to their left.

"The guest room is in the opposite direction!", Sakura called after them. Mello immediately stopped and turned around, running past the group.

"Whoops, my bad!", he yelled as he and Matt disappeared around the next corner.

"Guess that leaves the child's room to us", Akin added and subtly approached Beyond.

"I hope you don't mind some red stains on the walls", Beyond said and went off, followed by the brunet girl. Now it was only Watari and Sakura.

"You can take my room. I'll sleep on the couch", Sakura offered. Wammy sighed and gently grasped her shoulders.

"Sakura, you don't owe me anything, alright? Just leave the couch to me"

Sakura smiled mischievously.

"I was rather thinking at your poor back, old man"

Wammy chuckled slightly. "Always the charming one, aren't we? Okay, I'll spend the nights in your room"

"Thank you, Watari", Sakura said and Wammy had the feeling that the young mother didn't refer to him accepting the offer. He flashed her one more smile and turned to unpack his things.

* * *

Sakura decided to search for her son now that everybody was busy otherwise. She found the kitchen abandoned and the fridge missing all its sweets.

The young mother went upstairs to Ryuuzaki's room and tried opening the door - it was locked. There was frosting smeared all over the door which read: "Don't bother knocking. I'm moping". The end of the word 'moping' was slightly blurred, seemingly by the finger of a certain someone who had decided to taste the creation before it was dry. How enchanting.

"Honey?", she asked and, completely ignoring the message, knocked at the door. "Honey? Could you let me in?"

"No", a muffled voice came from the inside.

"I have cake", Sakura lured.

"I have deprived the house from all its sweets, including the frostings. I have taken them as hostages to ensure my repose. Or as 'frostages' in some cases"

"You do realise that this won't have the desired effect? People will come demanding their sugar back"

"They won't. I have made sure to hide the chocolate all over the house. The blonde child won't bother persuading me like that", Ryuuzaki retorted.

"And Beyond? Did you know that he's crazy after strawberry jam?"

"No…"

"See? Now come out or one of us will come in eventually"

"…but I nevertheless have hidden this treat in the house as well after having noticed the increased amount of jam jars before an upcoming visit of genius children."

"Goddammit, Ryuu!", Sakura exclaimed and massaged her temples.

"Look, why can't you just open the door, I'll cuddle you until there's nothing left of you and you tell me what your problem is? And all the while we'll eat cake together."

Silence followed and Sakura tapped her foot while waiting for something to happen.

Finally she heard the sound of the door being opened and she was then permitted to enter her son's personal realm.

* * *

**A/N: Yay. **

**L's behaving strangely. Really deep conversations incoming? HAH, I don't think so. **

**Hope you could bear this chapter, it was actually a bitch while I was writing (I had to delete/alter so much and I am still not content ;_; ), but since the next one is already partly done, I can say that things'll get better. Really. They'll get better and crazier.**

**I also miss Light. The parts with him and L practically write themselves.**

**But anywaaay, I'll see you around. Again thanks to everyone who has read/favourited/alerted/Idon'tknowwhat this story. You are awesome.**

**-GenoVera**


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey there, I am back with yet another chapter full of childlike madness!**

**Meaning that you will have to deal with the combined weirdness of a very exaggerating Mello, creepy Beyond, pouting L, not-doing-very-much-Akin and a hungry Matt.**

**Yay.**

**Also, I initially wanted to upload on L's birthday, but I totally failed :D**

**So a (very late, but nevertheless) Happy Halloween to everyone!**

**-Genovera**

**P.S: The explanation for L acting strange is really not meaningful in any way. I got inspired by L's pouting-phase during the Yotsuba-arc and thought that he would (at first) have a hard time dealing with young children who have no respect whatsoever. But you may interpret it as you wish. I won't stop you. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note nor L's pouting-phase (though I made my own :3)**

* * *

Chapter 9: The Genius Way of Socializing

"Can we now?", Sakura asked for the second time and stroked her son's hair.

"Not yet", he answered and took another bite of his cheesecake.

"What, are we going to wait until you've devoured the whole cake all alone?", she asked. Ryuuzaki looked at her with big, round eyes, cake crumbles everywhere.

"Uhm… yes?", he proposed and made his eyes even rounder. Sakura had no idea how he managed that.

"Why do I get the feeling you're just procrastinating talking to me?"

"Because I do?"

"That's it, probably"

Sakura sighed and wiped some frosting off her son's face.

"Then is your problem a thing that can be solved by talking at all?"

Ryuuzaki looked at her.

"You mean we could always try to sit here forever participating in the merciless obliteration of cake?"

"No. I meant that you don't have to talk about it if you think it's unnecessary or pointless"

Ryuuzaki stopped chewing for a second.

"I don't like the kids. They're bothersome", he finally admitted and wriggled his toes in a wave of anger.

"But that's normal for kids, isn't it? You didn't have any problems with them visiting us before. So what changed?"

"They aren't normal. In fact, they remind me of myself to a certain extend. That's what makes them difficult. They are disrespectful and competitive. And they are in the majority."

"But that's nothing you can't deal with, right?", Sakura asked and took the last bite of the cake herself, receiving a sulking look from her son.

"A little authority surely would be useful. People are so much easier to deal with when you are in a commanding position", the raven sighed.

"So you want power, then? You'll have to earn this, you know?"

Ryuuzaki closed his eyes and leaned back.

"That's the problem. All the effort for one week. I'd rather like to avoid them at this rate"

"So it's laziness?"

Ryuuzaki nodded and Sakura wondered if there were still unknown reasons behind her son's behavior, but she decided not to question it. If she did, it could result in Ryuuzaki getting defensive or even insulted. He then would accuse her of thinking of him as a liar in his own subtle way.

"Then there's nothing to worry. They'll be here for about a week, they won't enter your room and you can always choose not to talk to them whenever you like"

Although Sakura had hoped that Ryuuzaki would socialise a little bit considering the amount of genius children in the house.

"Everything's fine again?", she asked finally.

"About 89 %", he answered and wiped some cake crumbles off the plate, putting them in his mouth after having done so.

"I guess that's enough. And don't forget that we'll be having dinner together nevertheless"

Ryuuzaki looked up.

"And this one comes after having cheered me up? How mean", he protested softly. Sakura simply ruffled his hair once more.

"That's for the frosting action. What were you thinking, smearing food on your door like that?", Sakura scolded. Her son got that innocent expression again.

"I thought frosting would be less permanent than paint"

"What about _notes_, then?"

"Oh", Ryuuzaki said and tilted his head. "I actually didn't think about that. Writing on the door seemed to be the more dramatic thing to do at that"

Sakura snorted. "I think you could call that 'a-door-able"

Ryuuzaki looked at her for a long time.

"Yes, you might as well just leave now", he then muttered and curled up on his bed. His peace, however, was disrupted when his mother forced him to stand up and they had to clean the door together. L grumpily noticed that they were accompanied by constant voices from downstairs.

* * *

"Our room's fucking awesome!", Mello exclaimed and bounced around in order to emphasise his point.

"Our room is scary", Akin complained and rubbed her arms. Mello stopped in his movement and looked at her.

"I'd try removing Beyond, maybe that'll help"

"Don't be so mean, Mello", Akin said.

"Yes, don't be so mean, Mello", another voice added and both Mello and Akin jumped. Matt, who was standing next to Mello, didn't even have a clue of what was going on around him at that moment.

"Beyond! What the fuck!", Mello screeched as Beyond came crawling out from under the couch.

"Guys, look what I found there", Beyond said and proudly presented a jar with red jam. He immediately twisted off the lid and doused his whole hand into the almost consolidated mass, licking it up after that.

"Eww, that's gross, you freak! Who knows how long it has been there, anyway?", Mello muttered. "Creepy house, with jars hidden under furniture and stuff like that. That's just kinda sick"

Beyond stopped slurping for a moment and produced something from his pocket.

"Ah, yes, that's what I've found under the bed in my room"

He threw the mysterious object at Mello and the blonde caught it. It was a single chocolate bar.

"I totally take everything back. This house is kinda awesome!", he announced and held the chocolate bar in the air triumphantly. Matt made some 'Item-received'-sound from one of the games he had once played.

"Back with us, you nerd?", Mello asked and bit a piece of chocolate off.

"I just beat the hell outta the end boss, so, yeah. I'm back. Hey, guys", he said and waved lazily.

Akin smiled at him and waved back, earning an irritated look from Mello.

"Was there anything I've missed?", the redhead asked. Mello flipped back his hair.

"Just the fact that we're apparently on a treasure hunt. There are delicious treats hidden all over the house"

"Actually we just found two of them", Akin said and pointed at Mello's chocolate and Beyond's jam.

"That's enough for me. Let's go on an adventure trip!", the blonde announced eagerly and went off, followed by his less motivated comrades.

* * *

"Well, that was a waste of time. But nice crawling techniques, Beyond", Matt said and stretched his back.

"That so totally was _not_ a waste of time!", Mello said, his arm full of chocolate bars.

"Of course _you_ would say that. Seriously, twelve chocolate bars and four jars with jam, but not a single video game? I'm disappointed", the game-loving child complained.

"Well, there still is _one_ place we could take a look at", Mello said, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"The attic?", Beyond asked, despite knowing fully well what Mello was up to.

"As if. I'm talking about dark shithead's room"

"Is that really a good idea?", Akin asked and made one step back from the crowd. "I mean, isn't he in there the whole time?"

"Pffh, as if something like that could stop the Mello-mator! We'll just burst in, drag him out and search the room!"

"Who-ho, Mels, slow down. I doubt there's anything hidden in his room. I'll just have to side with Akin here", Matt said.

"I'm with Mello. Forcing somebody out of their personal bubble with a little bit of violence is exactly the type of free time activity I enjoy", Beyond said.

"So it's decided! We'll do it!", Mello claimed.

"What? It's a draw , you genius!", Matt interjected.

"Yeah, but my opinion counts twice as much as yours!"

"According to your opinion?", Matt asked.

"Exactly! See, the circle is complete. Let's go now, before Wammy and the woman are done with cooking dinner!"

The blonde went off and Beyond, Matt and Akin followed, each person more or less reluctantly.

"I'd rather be eating dinner right now"; Matt mumbled and covered his eyes with his goggles, preparing himself for the upcoming trouble.

* * *

"Well… that is a problem I have not foreseen", the blonde admitted quietly as they stood in front of the door to their destination. Which was locked.

"Yeah, of course. Who would have expected such an incredibly clever move? Locking doors is really the ultimate evil", Matt muttered ironically. Mello sent him a death glare.

"The door smells good", Beyond randomly remarked.

"Um, just why are we doing this again?", Akin asked.

"Because…", Mello pointed towards the door with a dramatic pose. "…this is a limitation of our free movement! This door represents all the deeds committed by humankind such as slavery, wars and apartheid! It is a insult to our human rights themselves, so we shall destroy it with all our power!"

* * *

Inside of the room, L looked up from the book he had been occupied with and rolled his eyes. Then he went back to reading.

* * *

"Didn't you just want to have more chocolate?", Matt asked. Mello ignored him.

"Can anyone pick locks?", the chocolate addict required to know.

Everyone just looked at each other.

"I can pick locks for diaries", Beyond said.

"I… don't even want to know", Mello said and turned to the problem at hand again. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Going downstairs and waiting for dinner to be ready?", Matt proposed. His stomach grumbled in agreement.

"No. Come on, guys, we are three extremely intelligent genius super-kids! And Matt, of course. We won't be stopped by a stupid fucking door!"

"Can we break it down?", Beyond asked. Mello thought about it.

"Breaking the door down like the barriers separating people, huh? Sounds good to me!"

"Sounds incredibly stupid to me, though", Matt interjected.

"Then it's decided, I'd say! Let's demolish the evil barricade!"

"Like a demon-lishion?", Matt asked. Mello smacked the redhead's occiput.

Then the bad-tempered boy approached the door and began bracing himself against it.

The door didn't budge, but it was quite the amusing thing to witness for the other three persons present.

"Come on, you fucker…!", Mello grumbled and pressed harder, using all of his bodyweight to conquer his enemy. On top of that, he starting banging at it frantically.

Suddenly, an unlocking sound was heard and the door opened. Mello, totally unprepared, stumbled forwards and probably would have fallen to the ground headfirst, if it hadn't been for L, who caught him at his black shirt.

"Whoa! What the…!", the boy shrieked and tried to free himself from the disgraceful position he was in.

L, keeping a straight face the whole time, simply lifted the five-year-old up like a cat on his neck and set him down in front of the others, who were simply standing there being slightly at a loss.

Beyond contemplated intervening, but the sight of their self-proclaimed leader being flabbergasted like this was just too delightful.

"Uhm… Surprise?", Matt said trying to break silence. L fixated him and Matt decided that he'd rather fade into the background again.

"We're sorry", Akin stated.

"And it was Mello's idea", Beyond added. L's gaze now fell on Mello.

"I am, in all honesty, deeply disappointed by your display of inaction", the raven said. Mello looked up confusedly.

"What?"

"Well, your original purpose was obviously to get me out of the room or render me harmless otherwise and invade it after having done so. Now that the first step of your plan worked, why aren't you carrying it out until the end?"

Mello tilted his head.

"Uhm… I kinda didn't expect you to come out all of a sudden", he admitted.

"But you did expect that the door would be crushed by a single five-year-old with no outstanding physical strength whatsoever?", L asked sceptically.

Mello raised his arms and made frantic gestures.

"It's really not my fault, duh! There are those kick-ass plans popping up in my head and they look freaking cool and all! Though they sometimes don't really work out. So well. Yeah.", Mello muttered and got quiet after this. Matt snorted.

"I think those plans aren't the only things that sound better in your head than in reality.", the redhead remarked.

"Goddamnit, Matt!", Mello pressed out.

"Mello", L said and immediately caught the hyperactive boy's attention. After all, L could be incredibly authoritarian if he wanted to.

"Let me just give you some advise. If you create a plan that actually helps you achieving your goals, you must be sure to carry it out by any means."

"I wanted to do that! I could not know that you were ruining it by opening the door and being so fucking scary!", Mello complained.

"Ah, but that's the point", L said and raised his index finger. "There are a lot of unexpected things that can happen all the time, and since you can't take them all into account, you have to act spontaneously. Never lose sight of your goal."

Matt chuckled.

"Too bad that Mello would totally lose sight of every goal he has if you threw chocolate at him"

Mello crossed his arms and retorted: "As if! I can totally do as Ry-oh-so-fucking-clever-zaki told me! Smartass!"

Mello then turned to Ryuuzaki.

"Do you think it'd still count if I tackled you now?"

"Nope", Matt answered instead of Ryuuzaki.

"I would advise you against doing so, at that", the raven added and locked the door to his room. Matt looked up at him.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have said that, dude", he muttered. "Mello's a sucker for challenges."

"And a sucker in general", Beyond added. Matt gave him a high-five which he returned much less enthusiastically.

"Screw you both. It isn't like I would spend the rest of my time here waiting for the perfect moment for a _surprise attack!", _Mello said and upon screaming the last two words, he leaped at Ryuuzaki and threw him off-balance. The raven made a surprisingly elegant somersault and landed ultimately on top of Mello. The latter struggled to break free, but the eight-year-old on top of him was stronger than he looked and had him in a firm grip.

After a while, Ryuuzaki let go and Mello stood up immediately.

"Okay, that didn't work", he commented and straightened his clothes.

"No shit", Matt remarked.

Ryuuzaki didn't bother restoring his former flawless appearance but simply passed the four children and went downstairs.

"Huh? Where are you going, Ryuuzaki?", Akin asked.

"I intend to eat dinner", he replied without turning around.

"Well, you aren't going without us", Matt said and caught up with him. "Since you have defeated the alpha-male in such an impressing way, you have freed our poor souls and are now our leader"

"Hey", Mello protested weakly.

"'Hey' indeed, Mattie. I have beaten up Mello long before this impostor came around", Beyond interfered.

"Yeah, but you didn't help me getting food faster", Matt said and his stomach started grumbling again at the prospect of something to eat.

"Well then, welcome to the group, Ryuuzaki", Akin said.

Being followed by four chatting children, L made his way into the kitchen and inwardly hoped that this was only a temporary state caused by the lack of food availability.

* * *

Sakura, being busy with cooking and talking to her old friend, didn't notice the five figures standing in the doorway at first. She only looked up when she heard loud chattering, including some swearing and chuckling.

An unmistakable indicator for the arrival of the children.

However, she was mildly surprised when she found Ryuuzaki to be among them, a blank expression on his face.

Mello diverged from the group and ran towards the two adults.

"What are you cooking?", he asked, for he was too small to take a look at the counter. But, judging by the smell, it was surely something delicious.

"We're preparing pancakes", Sakura explained. Mello started grinning widely.

"Can I pour some chocolate sauce over them?", he asked eagerly.

"Sure, why not?", Sakura replied. She had long before discussed the food matter with Watari, and they had come to the conclusion that it would be best to let the kids themselves decide what they wanted to put on their pancakes.

"Yes! Matt, did you hear that? That's totally awesome!", the blonde exclaimed.

"I really don't see why this is such a big deal. You're eating chocolate all the time, don't you?", Matt remarked. Mello shook his head disappointedly.

"You really haven't comprehended anything since the time we met, have you?"

"What? I don't even know what you want from me right now", Matt said confusedly.

Mello lowered his gaze and whispered:

"We are going to have dinner, Matt. Like _we _want it. That means we're one step closer to adulthood!"

Matt rolled his eyes.

"_Wow_. You think they're gonna let us choose our bed time, too?", he muttered ironically.

Mello gasped.

"That would be epic! But… no, we can't do that! We're not ready yet, my friend. The pressure would be too great. We would break", he said and slumped down dramatically on Matt's shoulder.

"You two stay up till all hours, anyway", Watari interfered.

"You have no evidence!", Mello screamed and hid behind his best friend. Sakura chuckled at that.

"Ah, it seems like we're done", Watari said while Matt tried to kick off the clingy blonde.

"We decided to eat in the living room, since the kitchen's not big enough. So, everyone, take a plate and we'll go there", Sakura added. Akin wondered briefly if it was a good idea to entrust Mello with breakable objects, but after a short balancing act and surprisingly few broken plates, everyone was suited comfortably on the couches in the living room, the freshly made dinner in front of them.

Mello was about to comment on Ryuuzaki's way of sitting until Matt pointed out that Mello was spilling chocolate sauce on his crotch and the blonde decided to rather sit like a girl for the rest of the evening.

They ate in silence for a while, until Mello came to the conclusion that it was too silent and he started a conversation.

"Sooo, just for the record, what _does_ 'shithead' mean in Japanese, Oh-Almighty-Ryuuzaki?"

L looked up from his meal, which was actually just a pile of sugar with some trades of pancakes in it, and tilted his head.

"I already told you, I don't know any swearwords"

"Of course you do! You told me when we were carrying our luggage, remember?", Mello said triumphantly.

"Mh. That was actually just very advanced Japanese. I am sorry if you misunderstood that, I assumed your language skills would be sufficient", L responded innocently.

"Of course you were fucking swearing! I know enough Japanese to recognise what you've been saying, you dipshit!", Mello yelled.

"Language, Mello", Watari chided.

"No fucking way! This little ass is…"

"No, I meant you're speaking the wrong language, Mello", Watari interrupted him.

"Oh", Mello said, not having been aware that he had ranted in English.

"Eat your chocolate, Mels. It settles mood swings", Matt said.

"He swore nevertheless", the raging child mumbled, but took one bite of his treat and calmed down a bit when the tenderly melting sweet dissolved in his mouth.

"Beyond, shall I fetch you a serviette?", Sakura asked when she saw the mess the black haired boy had done.

Beyond, being Beyond, had simply ripped his pancake into pieces and had then continued to douse them in his jam. His shirt was stained and his hands looked incredibly sticky. Sakura was astonished that there could be someone with manners worse than the ones Ryuuzaki possessed, but then she took a look at her son and immediately rejected this thought, since the sweet-addict had created a sugar-covered, chocolate-dripping monstrosity while nobody had been paying attention.

"Nevermind, I think I'll have to order a cleaning service", she said when her gaze wandered from Ryuuzaki, whose sweet tower had just collapsed, to Mello, who had now even managed to smear some more chocolate in his hair.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'll just lick it clean", Beyond said.

"This is, for once, an acceptable idea", L agreed and Mello pondered whether he should munch on his hair or bow down and… no, he didn't even want to finish this thought.

"Don't even think about that! I'll wash your clothes and we have sanitary facilities for... any other purpose.", Sakura interfered.

"God, don't overexert Mello with something being that civilised! He could become afraid and run back into his cave!", Matt said and deposited his silverware next to his flawless plate.

"Fuck you! I would wash the shit out of my clothes before you even knew what went on!"

"Speaking of 'Shit', this is exactly the word I would use to describe the stains on your trousers.", Matt retorted and Mello smacked the gamer's head as a response.

Before their fight could escalate, however, Watari and Sakura managed with united force to defuse the situation and make everybody clean themselves, before they all gathered in the living room once more.

"How about we watch a movie?", Sakura asked. "Any suggestions?"

Mello raised his hand.

"Anything with guns and exploding heads"

"And flying ponies and rainbows", Beyond added.

"Maybe something that isn't all too dark?", Akin proposed.

"It would be ideal at that if the entertaining aspect overshadowed the movie's illogicality", L mused.

"And of course it shouldn't be a movie at all, since movies suck and games are much better", Matt said finally.

Watari and Sakura exchanged glances.

"Sooo… the child-friendly attack of the scientifically explicable, gun-wielding, flying ponies? The game?", Sakura asked ironically.

"Sounds good to me", Beyond said and casually licked his fingers.

"Oh, but we could play a multiplayer game!", Matt proposed. "I've brought my gaming console with me!"

"You've packed your gaming console? Seriously? You've got all this game boy stuff with you already!", Mello said.

"Shut up, Mels. Midna likes to travel", Matt remarked and suddenly got a loving look on his face.

"Okay, no fucking comment", Mello muttered and leaned back, adopting his very own Mello-sitting-pose.

"I think playing games would be fun. Any objections?", Sakura asked and looked around. Nobody seemed to reject this idea.

"Uhm, actually…", Matt intervened and looked pointedly at L, Mello and Beyond. "You three should really wash your hand before touching my controllers"

This earned Matt three rather fiery looks, so he quietly sat back and shut his mouth.

* * *

The evening went surprisingly well, apart from the fact that both Beyond and Mello felt the desire to strangle Matt after he beat him shamelessly in Mario Kart.

Akin and Sakura sang karaoke together, whereas L and Watari both struggled with any kind of game, since L couldn't really bring himself to hold the controller in a proper way, and Watari being, as he himself phrased it, simply 'too old'.

When it got late, the children were sent to bed and after some complaining, they finally complied, wandering off as a unity.

* * *

**A/N: Awww, they're so lovely after having put their differences aside ridiculously fast :D**

**I guess from here on L will have no choice but to warm up to the orphans :3**

**See you next chapter, then ****(I'm planning to do something quite cute... as if you weren't already used to that kind of stuff. I hope you won't get immune)!**

**-GenoVera **


	12. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello again!**

**I'm uploading a little sooner since this chapter is really short, the shortest one so far. And there's merely Mello, Matt and L (at the end), but I hope you'll enjoy this nevertheless, especially since this is the prelude to something that'll really be fun to write :3**

**A chapter mostly without plot but with more toddler-randomness, Mello's stupid story and the development of L's and the duo's relationship.**

**-GenoVera**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, only Mello's badly improvised ghost story.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Don't let Mello tell Ghost Stories

* * *

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought", Mello said, lying on the bed he had claimed his.

"Hmmm", Matt hummed, not really listening.

"I mean, the food's great, the house is not tiny and there's no Near around! What else could I probably ask for?"

"So, what about Ryuuzaki?", Matt asked, now spending part of his attention on Mello.

"He's okay, I guess", Mello shrugged.

"He totally owned you", Matt remarked.

"Yeah, It was pretty awesome, actually. There's no way in hell shithead could do something like this. He can't even stand on his own"

"And everyone who can do something that Near doesn't is automatically your friend?", Matt asked sceptically.

Mello shook his head furiously.

"Hell no. But Ryuuzaki isn't as arrogant as Near only because he has great skills or something"

Matt heard Mello kicking the wall once in frustration.

"So he's more like a Shy-o-zaki?", the redhead asked.

"Matt, seriously, no. Those puns really have become a bad habit of yours. They're not even funny."

"Mmh. Would've probably been more awesome if I had written it down."

"Whatever"

The two boys laid silently in their room for a while, listening to the soft creaking of the house.

"Wanna hear a scary story?", Mello asked.

"Mels, you aren't really good at that kind of stuff. All you ever manage to do are lame jumpscares"

"Well, jumping _is_ kind of scary", Mello mumbled. Matt rolled his eyes. "But this story's really cool!", the eager blonde continued.

"I came across it in an old book in the library, all dusted and with a leather binding", he said in a husky voice.

"I can't really stop you, can I?", Matt sighed.

"It was a stormy night and it was incredibly dark outside", Mello mumbled.

"I'd really like to go to sleep now, Mels"

"There wasn't any source of light except some flickering candles drawing the thin line between the shadowy and the enlightened worlds!", Mello kept talking, unfazed by his grumbling friend.

"Okay, go ahead. I and my ears are under the pillow, in case you want to tell them something that isn't complete bullshit"

However, Mello would creep closer to his hiding victim and destroy Matt's sound-barriers simply by raising his voice.

"I couldn't read the title of the book, but it was obvious that it had to be something pretty dark. I opened it and skimmed through the first pages. They were completely illegible. However, there was one story at the end that I could read."

"Yes, books are awesome. Because you can shut them in case they're boring", Matt grumbled.

"Well, this book was obviously not boring, you cretin. On with the story, now. I started reading. The title said: 'Mother and Child'. After a few paragraphs it became clear that this was something like an urban legend. Something that supposedly took place in Japan."

"Isn't that convenient?", Matt remarked ironically, but was ignored once more.

"There was a mother and a child, and they lived together peacefully. It is said that she lived in an old house all by herself, with no one to keep her company but her baby. She only went out for work once in a while, but even her co-workers did not know her better.

It seemed like they had the perfect life. She was happy being with her child, and the child didn't seem to mind that it never met any other persons.

However, the mother died one day, as she often went to the forest nearby to obtain some firewood. Nobody knows exactly how she died, rumors say that she simply disappeared off the face of the earth.

Three days passed, and since the mother didn't show up for work and didn't answer the phone, they sent some people to check if everything was in order.

The crew sent out opened the door and peeked inside. They almost expected to be confronted with a mess, but the hallway appeared to be quite ordinary.

They called out for the mother, but didn't receive an answer. Reluctantly, they entered the house. The floorboards creaked under their weight as they went further. The air was dusty and there seemed to be a complete blackout, for the lights didn't work.

The men switched on their flashlights and slowly proceeded.

Suddenly, a sound emitted from upstairs. The men looked at each other. They were already quite frightened by the overall eeriness of this house, but they decided to check anyway.

One after another, they climbed the stairs. The strange sound became clearer and they identified it as a voice singing. They followed it and arrived at the room it seemed to come from.

The bravest one opened the door.

The room was bright, quite the contrary to the rest of the house. It was obviously a child's room, with toys scattered everywhere. In the middle of it stood a cot. A baby was lying in it, unmoving. A woman stood behind it, bending over the child and humming a lullaby.

Upon noticing the men, she looked up with cold, dead eyes. She smiled, a shy and friendly gesture, and disappeared into thin air.

The child, although it had been on the brink of death, recovered after having been rescued by the men. Nobody who had witnessed the strange events in that old house talked about it later. There was only an old diary entry being found, which told this strange story.

One of the guys who'd read this diary had then inquired about the whereabouts of the child.

It was put into an orphanage and was soon after adopted by a family. However, this family experienced strange events shortly after, so they claimed the child as 'cursed' and handed it off to another orphanage. This story repeated itself many times. It seemed like the mother simply couldn't let go off her beloved child.

It all came to an end, eventually, when the child was taken in by a woman who was interested in occultism. She performed an exorcism and managed to get rid of the mother temporarily. The son lived his life happily after that and died eventually of old age.

The mother, however, is supposedly still looking for her child, since her soul couldn't have been banned from earth completely.

Up until now, she visits random child's rooms in Japan at night, looking for her sleeping child. The End."

Mello looked at his friend, who had wrapped his blanket tightly around his body.

"Sooo? What do you think?", he asked and flashed Matt a bright smile.

"Okay, I admit it. It wasn't as bad as I had thought. But maybe that's just due to the setting."

"Or maybe it's just because I am a kick-ass story teller!"

"Probably the setting. May I go to sleep now?"

"Of course, Mattie. Provided that you _will be able_ tosleep", Mello beamed.

"That shouldn't be a problem", the sleepy boy remarked.

* * *

One hour after desperately having tossed around, Matt gave up.

"Okay, it is a problem", he sighed loudly.

"Ha!", Mello exclaimed and sat up, obviously having awaited this very moment.

"Whoa! Hey, you're awake as well?", Matt asked. Mello shrugged.

"I couldn't let you alone after this mind-shattering experience"

Matt grinned smugly.

"Do you mean that you are afraid?"

Mello snorted. "Bitch, please. I am not afraid, it is simply my survival instinct kicking in."

"So you think The Mother can show up any moment?"

"Nope. This isn't exactly a child's room we're in. So I think we're safe.", Mello mused.

Matt relaxed unintentionally.

"However…", Matt tensed up again as Mello continued speaking, "I just realised that A and Beyond do sleep in a child's room. And they are nearby."

"You mean we should go and save them?"

"Oh god, no. I propose we inconspicuously sneak downstairs, away from all the child's rooms in this house."

"So… there's no hope for them?", Matt asked, momentarily having adopted his friend's dramatic nature.

Mello put his arm around the redhead's shoulder.

"Be strong, Matt. Now we have to ensure our survival, or else all the victims have died in vain"

"That's the most reasonable thing I have ever heard from you", Matt agreed and the two boys followed the blonde's great plan, tip-toeing past the rooms and into the kitchen.

* * *

"Are we safe here?", Matt whispered while hiding under the table next to Mello.

"Definitively", Mello answered in a dead-serious voice.

The two toddlers were momentarily curled up to balls next to each other, eyeing the door attentively.

"I think one of my legs has gone to sleep", Matt remarked and yawned. Oh, how he envied the leg in question at this very moment.

"Stop complaining. Ryuuzaki sits like that all the time"

"And look what a lovely-looking creature he is. I bet his blood flow is all cut off.", Matt moaned.

"Don't…", Mello started, but was interrupted by the light suddenly being turned on.

The boys froze like deers in the headlight and watched with wide eyes as two uncovered feet patted towards the fridge. Mello's gaze slowly trailed along the baggy pants, the white T-shirt and the messy black hair and calmed down immediately. It was only Ryuuzaki.

* * *

L had woken up in the middle of the night for no particular reason, or so it seemed. And seeing as that was the case, he might as well give the unnecessary awakening some meaning and fetch some cake.

He cautiously left his room, since he was aware that he wasn't alone in this house anymore, and went to the kitchen.

As he was standing in front of the opened fridge, one finger in his mouth, and thought about what to pick, he suddenly recalled something that didn't quite fit the typical night scenery he'd gotten used to.

Slowly, he turned around and instantly saw the cause of his distraction.

There were two little creatures hiding under the kitchen table, seemingly snuggled together.

L tilted his head questioningly.

"Ah. Hey, Ryuuzaki", Mello said and waved half-heartedly.

"May I ask what you are doing here?", L responded.

"Matt is afraid of ghosts, so I'm hiding here with him", Mello lied.

"Hey!", Matt protested and punched Mello's shoulder.

Just as Mello was about to return this gesture, L intervened and pulled them out from under the table.

"Don't be too noisy", he said and fixated them both with a stern look in his unblinking eyes. After all, his mother was lying in the living room, intending to sleep. And although she had started to wear ear plugs at night, nothing could guarantee that she wouldn't wake up anyway.

The upset kids went silent instantly. L quickly grabbed a muffin and nodded once, giving them the silent command to follow him.

Mello and Matt did as they were told, still quite nervous, but at least a little bit reassured by Ryuuzaki's cool presence.

L led them to the guest room, where Matt and Mello had been spending the night so far. There he sat down in a chair and swiveled around, facing the toddlers.

"Well, then. Maybe you'd like to explain yourself now."

And so Mello and Matt did. It was a little bit incoherent, with Matt blaming Mello and Mello mocking Matt, but L understood the overall events.

He nodded once to himself and took a bite from his sweet.

"Mello, Matt, you both don't have anything to fear. The book Mello mentioned did not furnish any evidence for the actual existence of such a creature. And even if it did exist, the probability that it would haunt our house would be almost non-existent."

"_Almost_, you say. And you even consider it to be real! I think we're doomed", Mello sighed.

"Mello, I just stated that mankind has still to produce evidence to counter the various ghost theses there are. And as long as that isn't the case, there's always a small chance for things like that to be real."

L looked into the worried faces of the children. Obviously, this didn't _exactly_ help to comfort them. He decided to do another attempt.

"Look, Mello, has it ever been said what would happen if the woman found you?"

Mello scratched his head.

"Well… no, not really. I assume you'll die or something like that"

"Considering the facts I have gathered about this particular ghost of yours, I'd say there's a 98 per cent chance of this not to happen."

Mello exchanged glances with Matt.

"Uhm… have we ever told you that we are renowned for our bad luck?", Matt said.

L sighed.

"Okay, then I have an idea. Mello mentioned that the woman was once banned by an exorcism, right?"

The boys nodded.

"That is convenient, for I have once read a book about occultism. I have memorized the exact way it goes"

"Really? That's freaking awesome!", Mello exclaimed, but was hushed by another look from Ryuuzaki.

The raven left the room and shortly after that re-appeared with a lot of strange stuff in his arms.

* * *

L was, by any means, not amused. He had spent the last seventy minutes preparing a supposed exorcism, had mumbled weird things (in Russian), had lit candles and had even performed a little dance (Light-kun would have died of laughter).

Finally, he felt that it was sufficient.

He blew off the candles, collected some of the torn pieces of paper with Japanese signs on it and waited until the children laid in their beds.

"I guess it is a little too optimistic to wish you a good night at this late hour… But at least you are absolutely safe now", L said.

Mello glanced to the side.

"Thanks, dude", he mumbled. "You may leave now, before you step on the pentagram and ruin the spell"

"Good night", Matt said and yawned.

L looked at the two boys one more time before he left and carefully closed the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Mels?", Matt asked sleepily.

"Hm?", Mello replied.

"You do know that Ryuuzaki can't really perform exorcisms, right?"

Mello turned around to face Matt. The latter could only make out that his friend was smiling slightly as he snuggled into the pillow.

"I know"

And as Mello slowly fell asleep, the last words he could produce were:

"I fucking told you he was alright"

* * *

**A/N: And that was it.**

**The end was cheesy as fuck (as always) but who cares? Also, you can't believe just how often I've written 'Matthead' instead of 'redhead'. It's not even funny anymore. And, of course, no A, B, Sakura or Watari :(**

**However, in the next chapter, Light will finally have his great re-appearance (and of course it will be absolutely fancy... or maybe not)! I've really missed the little moralizer :3 **

**-GenoVera**

**P.S: Has anyone noticed that even the Author's Notes are shorter O_O ? Well, whatever. I will see you next time! :D**


End file.
